Burnaby’s BIG Fair 2013: Day Two

The second day of Burnaby’s BIG Fair was a little more low-key than Day One, but that just means you have more time to talk to exhibitors who aren’t as busy with other students as they would be when it’s busier.

The Student Prep Zone was still up and running, offering drop-in resume advice and professional LinkedIn profile photos, the entire area was expanded this year, so you can discuss your resume options away from the noise of the main hallway, which I found to be a definate improvement.

The Graduate School Fair and the Volunteer and Community Engagement Fair were largely the same as day one, although a few tables didn’t return for Day Two, so next year if you can only attend on one day, I suggest coming for the first one.

That said, there were several new employers on Day Two:

• IKEA: The blue and yellow mecca of Swedish furniture and tasty meatballs is looking for students to fill part-time positions in their Coquitlam store. It could be a pretty cool way to break into the huge company, and maybe they’ll share the secret of how they put together so much furniture with nothing more than an Allan key.

• Vancity: The bank brought some example job postings, but they’re primarily looking to fill entry-level positions, which is perfect for most students and recent grads. The representative I spoke with stressed that while your degree may influence how you can move up in the company, when hiring entry-level employees for their call center or in-person customer service positions, they look at individuals much more than what kind of paper they hold. They look for candidates who share their company valuables, are knowledgeable about the company, and can work well with their customers, they can teach you the rest.

• Apple: While the hallways were a little emptier than Wendesday, the table occupied by Apple caused quite the traffic jam. Armed with iPads and wearing the classic black t-shirts, Apple reps were on hand to take applications and answer questions. You likely won’t be surprised to learn that they’re primarily looking for Engineering students – both in hardware and software development. However,  as this handy chart shows, the company needs employees of almost every background to make it run.

Did you check out the BIG Fair this year? Which parts were your highlights?

Beyond the Article:

• Check out our recap from Day One of the Fair.
• Find out more about the 2013 BIG Fair.
• Brush up on these 10 tips to get the most out of career fairs.