by ALYSSA VELAZQUEZ, Staff Writer

Business attire, resumes and students discussing their elevator pitches can only mean one thing at Manhattan College around this time of the semester: the annual STEM and Business career fair.

For students majoring in the STEM and business fields, last Tuesday was a day to seek out opportunities for when their college journey has come to an end. However, these annual career fairs have proven to be worth more than earning a job after college.

When entering the career fair, rows of booths manned by representatives of companies, such as Turner and Barnum Financial Group, can be seen; a sight that’s usually intimidating to students.

For sophomore Fahima Rafiqi, a chemical engineer major, this was her second time attending a career fair. When asked about her overall experience of the fairs at the college thus far, Rafiqi’s main takeaway was to take advantage of the opportunities.

“It’s great networking. I highly recommend going your freshman year because, in sophomore year when you need to get an internship, you’ll have practice from your freshman year” Rafiqi said.

Freshman Alexandre Rodrigues, a civil engineer major, did just that for his first career fair. “I’m learning for the future and starting to get my name out there so I can have job opportunities and better myself for the future” he said.

Rodrigues hopes to utilize the college’s career fairs as an opportunity to improve his interview skills and become more confident when approaching major companies.

“I was a bit nervous at first but I’m starting to get more comfortable now, now I know what to expect” he said.

Though this is only Rodrigues’ first career fair, he is already following the advice that Rafiqi believes is important for all underclassmen no matter their major.

“If you mess up on your pitch or whatever it is, it’s not really going to hurt you because next year you can come back and really sell yourself, so that’s why I really recommend coming every year as much as you can just so you can get comfortable” he said.

In total, there are four career fairs, which provides plenty of opportunities for all students to go out there and take advantage of this unique experience that the college provides.

The next two career fairs will be taking place in the Spring Semester.