Freshers fair is around the corner: 5 tips to make the most of it.

With freshers around the corner our Co-Founder Liam-Elio discusses some advice for freshers providing a practical angle on why you should engage deeply, network often and have fun in the process.

TLDR:

Freshers’ fairs are a space of career opportunity and crowd sourced knowledge of students further through the process. Connecting with student committee members can be really valuable.

Use freshers as a low stakes networking environment to practise how you introduce yourself both as a student and as a future professional. Passion is the main factor here that will determine success.

Be patient and supportive with yourself and other students. Some people will be coming from school backgrounds where they are afraid to show passion or interest let them know its not just okay but necessary to be passionate, enthusiastic and smart here. Student apathy kills your opportunity and makes university a lot harder.

 This week 1000s of new students will be entering university and seeing what career, hobby and community spaces are open to them at their institution. It is a really exciting but also overwhelming time for many first years. Alongside the casual meeting of minds and sussing out new and exciting hobbies there is a significant career opportunity in these events. So how do you make the most of these events early on?

Liam-Elio offers 5 points to start your journey:

Show curiosity and passion:

Many people come to university shy and unsure; that is normal. Many people fall back into old hobbies or look at a few societies that align with their interests. Freshers is also a great opportunity to try new hobbies and activities. Get curious about what is on offer both on the sports and hobbies side and the career networking side. A good place to start is your subject society for example most courses will have one – two societies representing them, these can be law societies, history societies or maths societies, ask about upcoming events and what the society offers.

Don’t be afraid to show your passion University works best for students who are unapologetically passionate about their subject and interests. You are here for 3-4 years, and this is an investment. If you aren’t getting involved and learning you are wasting your time. Societies can be a great way to find out about new career paths and gain early experience especially for professional services (Consulting, Corporate Law, Accountancy, etc) where competition is fierce. Introduce yourself to the society committee and ask them about how you get involved, articulate your goals to them and see where they can support you. 

Focus on deep engagement:

Many students won’t join societies in first year. Even fewer students will engage meaningfully with those societies. So, what does deep engagement look like? Focus less on showing up and performing community participation and instead actually add value. Help support running events, organising hackathons and career workshops and when you have found your feet look at running for committee. Societies are opportunities to develop the culture of your university and some of the best leadership and management experience you can get as a fresher.

Being more deeply engaged with a society also means you will have exposure to more senior students. These connections can help make your path easier to navigate from careers visibility and advice to settling in at university, having friends a few years ahead is really valuable. Deep engagement will see you learn a lot more from the society, create a new space for friendships and socials and see you build connections over mutual interests. 

Think about future options:

At these events it’s tempting to grab the freebies and move on in a manic rush to collect the most interesting or most amount of tote bags and pens. I would urge you to slow down. What do you really want out of university? If you could have one thing (alongside a degree hopefully) what would that be? Starting to think about what sectors you want to try working in, what companies you want to work for and what experience you need to get there can be really powerful. Use these interests to guide your university engagement thinking about how each decision opens future options.

A thoughtful conversion that shows genuine passion can make a real difference. All the committee members you meet were freshers once too. The president of law soc may see themselves in a passionate fresher asking about breaking into the magic circle and showing their current CV for review. I would urge you to start this process before you are “ready” as practising pitching is a great opportunity for future you to benefit from.

Practise networking:

Freshers’ fairs may even have a career employability impact with networks like Unitemps often having a stand. This is great as the hustle and bustle, and warm smiles of student committee members makes these events a fairly relaxed networking space. There is no need for slick elevator pitches or much preparation at all just bring your curiosity and passion and ask questions. Many of the committee members of career focused societies will be interns or placement students for some major opportunities tap into their knowledge and experience and you will save yourself months of trial and error.

Furthermore, the student experience is inherently interesting, a lot of people don’t go to your university, study your course or have the opportunity to experience university for the first time. This means freshers fairs are a great piece of LinkedIn content that can increase your visibility and set you up as a student who contributes value to a community. Reflect on your experience, what did you learn? Who did you speak to? Why were they interesting / not interesting? This insight could benefit future students as well as give graduates a space to reminisce.

Have fun:

Last of all have fun. University is an incredible opportunity where you have social status, freedom and future earning potential. Take it a few steps at a time and remember to enjoy it. You have the opportunity here to attend institutions100s of years old and freely access (some societies ask for payment but outside of sports these are very cheap) hobbies and career spaces and cultural groups in a way that is difficult to find outside of University. Don’t be afraid to put yourself out there you will gain so much from not sinking into the background and encourage others to do the same.

People will be nervous and shy and unsure. Some will come from backgrounds where the idea of being passionate about anything is closely associated with social ridicule and bullying. Let them know it is okay to be smart here, to be passionate here and to follow your interests.

The secret to university is that is where all the success is, University is about learning how you want to organise your life, what you want and who you want to be. Freshers is the first major step on that journey I urge you to attend, I urge you to engage fully.