The University of Virginia’s president’s box at Scott Stadium was abuzz recently, but it wasn’t because of a football game. Hundreds of students turned out for one of the many career fairs hosted by the UVA Career Center every year.
Tech Night Takeover was spread out in several of the fourth-floor football suites and featured employers from Appian, Capital One, Deloitte and real estate giant CoStar.
If the location of the career fair sounds unusual, that’s because it is.
“The feedback we get from employers is this is the best, most interactive, engaging experience they’ve had,” said Kim Sauerwein, interim executive director of the Career Center. “Students are able to go into each football suite to talk to an employer and then come out and process, rather than being in a huge ballroom kind of area.”
There was also a career counselor table “so that if students are saying, ‘OK, that first conversation didn’t go so well. I’m going to go and talk with a career counselor about how I could do better in the next one,’” Sauerwein said.
What’s also remarkable about the fairs at UVA this year is the outsized student interest after two years of remote programming caused by the pandemic. “Pre-pandemic, if 100 students signed up for a fair, 70 would show up,” Sauerwein said. When contrasted with another recent fair, where 350 students signed up and 400 attended, you can begin to appreciate the large appetite for these engaging and interactive experiences.
“It feels like students are getting more comfortable and more employers are coming to Grounds,” Sauerwein said. “I feel like, ‘Okay, we’re coming back.’ It’s very exciting.”
She said it’s never too early to start taking advantage of all the Career Center has to offer. Although it may seem premature or overwhelming for first-year and transfer students, now is a great, low-pressure time to get started.
