What I learned and experienced at the UMT job fair 2013 - A Managerial Perspective

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Career Fairs are a place to find jobs and internships. This event offers the chance to network with employers and explore a position or organization that maybe you had not previously considered as your goal. University of Management and Technology, Lahore job fair was a similar case. The goal is to get an interview. The management invited around 30 companies who had their stalls there. On the UMT website the participating companies were listed almost two weeks before the event but many of them didn’t show up. I had done some basic research on those companies before the event. I specifically designed a cover letter and a CV for RAAZIQ Logistics Company but they didn’t show up like many others. There was no other company remotely related to Aviation Management. Like always UMT management treated Aviation department as a foster kid.

To make the most of Career Fair, I saw that one must be prepared and organized. Otherwise, you may lose the opportunity to make a positive first impression or find out critical information. Professional Dressing was a must. I knew that I had to maintain good eye contact, shake hands firmly and speak clearly and concisely. Though on my first encounter I got very shaky and literally lost my English speaking ability, I knew before hand that I was going to blow it so I had gone to the stall of Care foundation, an organization which i was not very much interested in working for at that time and my planning saved me from humiliation.

Now I saw some of my classmates. At first the familiar and friendly faces became a source of motivation and confidence, but soon I saw that people had more important things to do than to stop and chat and no one cares what the person right next to him is doing or feeling. I observed what greed and fear of um-employment does to students. They even kept their CVs upside down so “no one can steal their ideas”. One little job fair unearthed the inner selfish and job Hungary faces of my “Friends”. Everyone is on their own. If someone thinks otherwise, he is very mistaken.

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Dishearted, I left them and stood in a corner silently. I observed the whole scenario. I saw that the arrangement was really good. UMT management had really put great effort to gather sponsorship's for the event and thus fulfilled their role as an organization. Some student volunteers were also helping to manage the event as first line managers, thus outsourcing the responsibilities and jobs. Nescafe was giving away free coffee. All this would definitely raise good word of mouth and impression of UMT and all the participating companies. I also observed that there were some people there who did not belong to UMT. This means the ads in Jang group and on the web had paid off. After a little reconnaissance I jumped in again. This time I didn't hesitate to approach a representative or join a group discussion already in progress. I asked for the employer's business card and inquired how to contact her/him after the Job fair and what kind of opportunities they could offer. I inquired about their hiring process and the locations they were based at. So basically I used my negative feelings like hate, disappointment to boost my self-esteem positively.

Companies had literature to distribute. While others were talking with the representatives, I had a little over view of the company through their literature and then started conversation with the particular recruiter. Before moving on to the next table, I wrote down what i wanted to remember about that company. I also tried to get the business card of the representative with whom I spoke. This literature was also acting as ads. Most of the time I got a little idea of the organizational culture of companies.  The reps were surely designated some powers from their management and they were using them quite boldly to portray their organizations as elegant as possible.

Another thing I observed was that the company reps were just talking CVs like candies. It was written in bold on their faces that all those except a very few were going straight away to the bin. This in my opinion, is purely unethical. Printing kills trees. Plus the false hope they were giving to students was also a negative thing. The uncertainty of employment especially in students is a very sad thing to see. They want to succeed individually not with working as a team. People just want networking with others and simpletons think of it as friendship. This is why corruption and chaos is eating our roots away bit by bit. Instead of leadership we believe in leg pulling. The trust on Allah who himself said that don’t fear for Rizq as he will provide it itself, is fading away from our people.  Especially the students from engineering depts. were depicting very negative image. I hears them abusing and talking loudly in Punjabi and even making comments on the female reps and participants. We study ethics, we are Muslims, we pay so heavy fees and yet we are more unethical than a non-educated person.

Although I don’t think even 5% of the people who participated in the event will land on some job due to this fair, but the event surely was strong for giving experience and promoting UMT and this is very important to ensure that when we go out in the market after completing our degree, people know about our university.