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Optimize Your Job Search

Jump-start your job search and professional development on-site and online at the ACS Career Fair in August

by Cheryl Mathews
June 6, 2011 | A version of this story appeared in Volume 89, Issue 23

INTERACTIVE
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Credit: ACS Careers
The Virtual Career Fair will offer job seekers a networking lounge (left) as well as a virtual booth to chat online with employers in real time.
Credit: ACS Careers
The Virtual Career Fair will offer job seekers a networking lounge (left) as well as a virtual booth to chat online with employers in real time.

The next ACS Career Fair, which will be held on Aug. 28–31, will break new ground for the American Chemical Society. The fair will take place on-site at the ACS national meeting in Denver as well as online, enab­ling job seekers and employers to connect with each other no matter where they’re located.

Interviews will take place both on-site and via text or video chat. Plus, virtual forums will allow job seekers and employers to meet informally.

The society’s Department of Career Management & Development hosted the first ACS Virtual Career Fair last November on an interactive online platform. The fair attracted more than 2,600 job seekers who networked, gathered information, and talked to employers about nearly 200 open positions. They also watched keynote addresses and participated in webinars presented by industry and career experts. Job seekers learned about important industry trends, new job opportunities in chemistry, and job-search strategies and were even able to pose questions to the presenters.

The ACS Career Fair this August will be a hybrid event, fully integrating the Virtual Career Fair into the on-site ACS Career Fair to be held concurrently with the ACS national meeting at the Colorado Convention Center. This innovative on-site and online career fair will offer job seekers not only more venues to connect with prospective employers but also more programs to gain the knowledge and skills needed to reach their career goals.

Virtual attendees will be able to interact with on-site attendees and vice versa. For example, workstations at the on-site career fair will allow on-site attendees to network with virtual attendees. Webcams at the on-site career fair will enable virtual attendees to see what’s happening on-site and fully participate in speaker presentations.

Job seekers attending the career fair will have access to live and on-demand presentations both in person and via a virtual auditorium. ACS Careers is currently developing a roster of noted speakers and industry leaders who will provide job seekers with insights and information that will enhance their ability to reach their professional and career goals.

[+]Enlarge
Credit: ACS Careers
Credit: ACS Careers

At the fair, on-site and virtual attendees will also be able to submit applications, résumés, and supporting materials; review employer information, including products and services, working conditions, and open positions; talk informally with employers to learn more about their organizations; interview with prospective employers in person or via real-time video or text chat; and attend workshops to build professional skills and enhance job ­searching.

In addition, both on-site and online job seekers will have an opportunity to schedule one-on-one sessions with ACS career consultants, who are chemists in industry and academia, to help them optimize their job-search strategies, résumés, and interviewing skills.

Both the on-site and the virtual meeting spaces will enable job seekers to meet privately with recruiters. The online social networking lounge will offer a place for chemical professionals and employers to mingle informally. And the virtual resource center will provide job seekers with ACS Careers materials to support their job searches.

“In today’s tight economy, it makes sense to take advantage of every opportunity available to get a job,” says David Harwell, assistant director of career management and development at ACS. “The ACS Virtual Career Fair will provide access to domestic and international employers in the chemical enterprise. So even if you are not looking for a job right now, you should attend the fair to gather valuable information about what employers have to offer and to take part in the professional development programs,” he says. “On-site attendees in Denver are also encouraged to participate in the Virtual Career Fair in order to interact with as many prospective employers as possible.”

ACS members and nonmembers from around the world can participate in the Virtual Career Fair at no charge. To participate in the on-site activities, however, attendees must be ACS members and register for the ACS national meeting. For unemployed members, national meeting registration is free (find out more at www.acs.org/­unemployed).

Job seekers can register and learn more at www.acs.org/careerfair. Employers interested in exhibiting at this event, either on-site or virtually, can register at www.acs.org/one-stop-recruiting or contact Garretta Rollins at (202) 872-6209 or g_rollins@acs.org.

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