Yesterday I attended the Michigan Tech Career Fair. I wasn’t going in-order to get a job, internship, co-op, or anything really, except for experience. Not many companies are looking for anyone like me with my major being Sports and Fitness Management, and me being a first year, the odds that I would get offered anything by any company were very slim, if at all in existence. Just to clarify, no, I was not offered a job or internship, but I did gain a bit of experience and confidence from career fair as a whole.
Last semester at career fair, I just walked around and didn’t really do too much, but this time I was determined to at least talk with one company to gain some sort of experience. I first went and got my name tag, had my professional picture taken (because I really needed one of those, living without one on my LinkedIn has been killing me!) So, after that was out of the way, I grabbed a map of the Multi-Purpose Room, and a list of all the companies that were represented. Like I said, I wasn’t looking for anything but experience, so I wasn’t searching for any company in particular.
I walked in and did a couple of laps just to see what companies were there, and I noticed one that didn’t have anyone at it, so after A LOT of hesitation I finally just walked up and said hello. I talked with the representatives from the Oakland Road Commission, and essentially just told them that I wasn’t looking for anything like a job offer or anything, and I just told them a little about myself. During this conversation I brought up my talking point, Lean and CI, which was my common subject with any company that was represented at the career fair. Both representatives knew about Lean and we had a nice conversation about what I do with it here at Michigan Tech, and they told me about a couple processes in their company that have been modified using Lean tactics. After our conversation came to a close, I thanked them, and moved on.
I talked with a couple other companies, neither of which knew about Lean or CI, so it was a very valuable teaching moment for myself, and maybe I might hopefully have been a spark for their companies to get invested in Lean. I told them about the Office of Continuous Improvement here at Michigan Tech, and just what my job is here in the Office of Continuous Improvement. I also tried my best to explain exactly what Lean is, but everyone has a different definition for Lean, so I tried my hardest and I told them about some Kaizens that I’m working on and the processes that are involved to get them to their end states.
Overall, I had a pretty good time at career fair, especially after I got over my fear of talking to strangers. I’m excited for next year’s career fairs, to hopefully get some more experience, and to possibly spread the word of Lean further!
You are smart to go to the Career Fair to gain experience even if you aren’t seeking a job or internship. When the time comes that you are, you will be better prepared. I am sure the Oakland Road Commission representative left your conversation impressed with your knowledge of Lean and glad that Michigan Tech is involving students this learning and practicing Lean. You may have also sparked some interest in the companies who were not familiar with Lean and Continuous Improvement. Thanks for being a great ambassador for Michigan Tech and the Office of Continuous Improvement.