By Lily Fay; Photo Credits to Gordon Wenzel
Getting up the courage to find time amongst all your classes, clubs, and sports and even putting in the energy to print out your resume and dress up in something business casual, takes effort. We can all agree that motivation is the one thing stopping us from attending career fairs, going to Break Through each year and even networking as students here at SU.
But what if motivation doesn’t even have to be a factor? What if instead, you were able to develop skills and find values important to you, helping build yourself as a possible employer or even just learn some tricks for your everyday life?
Speaking on this issue of motivation linked to career readiness, Allie Grill, the Director of the Career Development Center (CDC), says, “Motivation is variable, and not reliable in environments that can be stressful (like networking events) or intense (like college). Instead, I recommend developing consistent habits and committing to them regularly.”
So? What can you do to better yourself for the workforce, grad school or even just become a more intuitive human?
You can—
- Set aside time to look at your plans for what you want your post-SU-grad to look like
- Make a list of potential careers and cross out the ones that you lose interest in
- Create a list of goals for things that you want to learn before graduation (like graphic design or how to better your public speaking)
- Make a chart on Excel or even on a posterboard of what benefits are important to you in a future career
- Build a LinkedIn profile, especially if you are a communications, business or computer science major
As a student looking to go into a field, you might not always know what you intend to do. Don’t fret; by attending career fairs, you can hear from alumni who are in fields that you are interested in!
Hearing from a junior Advertising & Public Relations major, Hannah Garlin, “I gained valuable insight from alumni in different generations and with unique backgrounds, but I was also able to relate to many of their values and career paths.”
Being able to relate to alumni, fellow students, professors and job prospects is what it means to network effectively. Additionally, if you are not looking to immediately get a job after college, internships are still a viable option. They can be a great way to get your foot in the door.
Lucy Honeywell, a sophomore majoring in management, public policy and communications, attended the Break Through event this year on Feb. 6 and 7. She witnessed a panel called ”Job and Internship Searching,” and gained a lot of information from it.
Honeywell states, “I learned the most from the job searching panel who gave tips and tricks on how to find internships, how to stand out in a pool of candidates and best interviewing practices.”
Honeywell also mentions that during interviews, you must maintain your confidence, and for every networking opportunity that comes your way, you should grab hold of it without hesitation. Networking, as we have discussed, can be a great building block for your future endeavors.
When navigating through college and coming across career fairs, some students tend to get nervous about reaching out to potential employers. At SU, we try to provide a few events per school year to convince students to come out of their hiding spots and give them chances to communicate with alumni, guests, mentors and even companies.
On the weekend of Feb. 6 and 7, Break Through held 30 events, with nearly 70 graduate speakers. Students of all majors at SU were able to attend, listen in, take notes and ask questions to the alumni who shared their experiences from their time as a student here till the present day and their career.
This was an event where students didn’t necessarily have to participate, give the speakers their resume or put themselves out there. They could just sit and listen. Although it was encouraged after the panels to approach the alumni, introduce yourself and ask some personal questions related to job readiness.
If you’re still feeling nervous, go to spectate. You don’t need to speak to any employer at these events, too; you can just walk through and listen, which still counts for something.
Grill says practice makes perfect. Grill added, “Career Fairs and Break Through (plus other alumni-connected networking events) are perfect environments to practice this skillset.”
As Grill mentions, most of the people that you will be networking with are alumni, past students who went here and who have been through the same experiences, highs and lows, as you. Students might think that they have to prove themselves to these alumni at employment or internship events, but simply by being a student at Susquehanna, you have a built-in family, ready to help you flourish and get you ready for the real world.
By attending Break Through and these other events, you have the ability to learn while also being open to several connections.
Garlin says, “I’ve attended career events at SU where I’ve been able to network with representatives from real companies in the area.”
Feeling inspired? Having more confidence to branch out?
The next spring career fair will be Thursday, March 12, 2026, from 11:30 am to 2 pm in the Charles B. Degenstein Campus Center! This event is open to all majors, and there will be 22 employers registered to attend who are looking to recruit students for jobs and internships. Feel free to visit the CDC to print out 10 free copies of your resume to hand out to the employers at the fair!
For more information, visit the SU Handshake link: 2026 Spring Career Fair (All Majors)
Networking and gathering the courage to attend job readiness events show a true testament of commitment and curiosity to your future. So, consider the next opportunity! Trust me, you’ll feel accomplished afterwards if you go!