When I hear the career fair is coming up, my chest begins to fill with dread. Flashbacks of past fairs, when I have sweated through my collared shirt all while having a forced conversation with a recruiter who checked out three students ago, swirl around in my mind.
I am not alone in this feeling; many College of Creative Arts students across Miami University share the same sentiment. Every year, I experience the same thoughts and hear the same dreaded phrases when I talk to recruiters.
“So marketing?” No, that's not what I do. “Oh that sounds cool, but I don’t think we have anything like that.” OK, next table. “We don't have a design team.” Great. “Check our website.” Why did I come here, again? Why can’t Miami do a better job of helping creative students?
As someone majoring in emerging technology in business and design, I’ve had a difficult time navigating who I want to be in the professional world. I often feel the intense pressure of the 99% job placement rate preached by Miami that influenced my college decision.
Because of this, I took an internship in the summer of my junior year that wasn't as creative as I wished. But, my time as a Chipotle summer intern was nothing short of excellent. It taught me how corporate America works; The meetings, the desks and the jargon. All a stark contrast of the classrooms I spent learning color theory, human centered design and research principles.
I don’t regret my decision to pursue an internship outside of my course training. I learned to find projects that were creative while I was there, such as designing our slide decks and newsletters. I learned how to talk to all business departments, understanding business goals and motivations. I learned my calling is to be a writer and designer.
I was fortunate to attend my first Creative Career Fair March 3 as an aspiring creative. I felt for once my major choice wasn't a mistake, but I just didn't have the proper resources.
I attended the meet and greet session of the day's programming. Students were wrapped around the third floor of the student center, eagerly awaiting a potential employer. As we entered the room, my expectations of a dreaded career fair were soon shattered.
I walked up to each table of the employers and prepared my normal career fair pitch, but this time I was able to have conversations that felt organic. I didn't have back sweat (maybe just a little) and the employer actually understood my skills and background.
There was a large presence of nonprofit organizations which I had desperately wanted to find at the general career fair I attended nearly two weeks earlier. I learned about careers I didn't even know were possible such as art curation and museum directing. It was a breath of fresh air, to say the least.
As I prepare for my graduation in the spring, I still have no idea what I am doing. One thing I do know is the job hunt isn't a narrow path; it's one full of curves, setbacks and moments where you want to turn around to start over.
And you know what? I'm OK with that. Every back step gets you one step closer to your dream job.
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Landon Morrison is a senior at Miami University pursuing a combined bachelors and masters degree in entrepreneurship and emerging technology, having graduated with his bachelors in December 2024. He has aspirations to work in journalism or communications in the non-profit sector.
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