|
| Trip down memory lane |
| Wednesday, January 23, 2008 |
You are happily trudging along life, doing your everyday chores, totally assimilated into today's world. Then one fine day, a snippet of incident happens, it transports you back the past. And it is really hard to get back to the present. Only writing about it and getting it out of the system will redeem you. Hence this post.
A few years back when I was a student myself, I have attended Career Fairs, at the beginning of every semester. What did Career Fair mean to me then? It meant lot of free goodies. Like Tshirts, cards, small torch, even a small radio, lots of chocolates, toffees etc etc. Before the day of the Fair, we spend hours on our Resume, get it reviewed by someone at the Career Center, and wait for the D day. Usually during lunch we drop by in the Lobby of the Engineering Hall, where all the different companies set up their own stalls with banners and the colorful giveaways. Me and my friend go to every booth that is remotely related to our area of specialization, and talk to them nervously, ask them some questions, try to campaign our resume, and finally pick up the goodies. Everything is good except the 'talking' part. You see yours truly is truly an introvertish, shy, person. My comunication skills suck, although I would like to think they have improved in the last few years. When I was in Std 7, I couldnt talk one sentence in English fluently. With friends I used to talk in Tamil or Hindi, not English. So if I had to ask a question to a teacher, I would prepare my sentence before hand, and practice it many times before going and actually talking to the teacher herself. Now if I am expected to talk to someone who might be a potential employer, impromptu, that is a mammoth task. So I try to read about the companies in advance, and try to be as informed as possible, so that I wont be a nervous wreck while talking to the folks at the Fair. Yeah, I know, may be I made too much of a big deal about the whole thing, but hey, thats just me being my true self. Most of the times, the folks at the booth have always been very friendly, and have made me feel at ease. They had a certain warmth, as in, they sent this vibe, "Come and talk to me, I am here to answer your questions, I wont eat you", which for obvious reasons made my life much easier. And of course there were these well known companies which were always busy, with a long queue of students waiting to talk to the people. I was in awe of them. I guess all these are thoughts are from my very first Fair, thats what I remember well, the rest are just hazy.
Today I skipped work, and went to a Career Fair at UC-Davis. This time I was on the other side of the table. I was representing my company, at the Fair. This must be easy right? I am not a nervous student anymore. Wrong. The day before the Fair, I was asked to go through a couple of power points, on how I should carry myself at the Fair. And on how I should invite/greet candidates, how I should make them feel at ease, even if they looked nervous! How was I supposed to make someone else feel at ease, when I was not at ease myself? I had great doubts about my capabilities. We were supposed to dress in semi formals, show we are informal, but still professional. It felt great to wear the company tshirt. The sense of belonging. With a few instructions, we were all ready to tackle the crowd. Most booths had 2 or 3 persons, we were 7. Apparently the last time they went, they were so swamped, they thought of taking a few more. It was a cloudy, rainy day. I guess thats why not many students came by. First I shadowed my Boss, watched him talk, take notes. Pretty soon, everyone was busy and it was my turn to talk to a waiting student. It went ok, I forgot to ask some questions. I felt stupid. Second time, I was more confident. The kids looked so young and shy and reluctant. My confidence level went up. Pretty soon, I was even joking with the students, talking in a relaxed manner asking questions and answering any they had as well. It was great to see the 'awe' in some students eyes, the same I had a few years back. There was a cheeky kid who came and asked a cheeky question, I had to be extra careful in answering. Most of the times we are in our own worlds, esp me, living in a city surrounded by work friends, taking so many things for granted, this was a refreshing experience.
As I was returning back, I got lost which was inevitable, given that my GPS was sitting in a car at the airport. My mind had to drift to my own grad school days, and hasnt returned to reality yet. I scrambled all over the web to get a glimpse of the campus, campus life, those memorable days. I dont have a single picture of those times, they disappeared when Yahoo Photos was shutdown. The Union with it colorful chairs, the colorful Fall, the Capitol, inside which I have never been to, the Mendota lake which freezes in winters( it freezes so hard, you can drive a car over the lake!), the kite festival on the Monona lake, those blissful most awaited summers, by the lake, with the ducks, those long runs and bike rides on lake shore drive, the majestic buildings - the Bascom Hall, Lathrop Hall, Agriculture Hall, were my favorite, the Monona terrace, with a great view of the State Capitol, the list is endless.
I hope to visit there again sometime soon. I will take lots and lots of pictures this time.
I pray hope I can get on to my list of piled up tasks, now. |
posted by SK @ 8:11 PM  |
|
| 8 Comments: |
-
So true! When you are on the other end, you really get the "complete picture". This time I went a step ahead and I actually did the first round of interviews too @ my school, UW-Madison. It was a great feeling although I was very nervous :P I have been going to Madison last couple months to recruit, and it feels great!
-
oi ... you from Madtown???
-
Ah, you went to UCD :-)! How's my school doing :-)?
I remember those career fairs and how I used to feel like an idiot everytime I had to talk to one of the company people and I wound up simply grinning, at a loss for words!
-
Divsu,
Oh yes, it was an interesting experience. Here they didnt have the concept of second day interviews. Only phone interviews later.
Kiddo,
oh is that a new name for the town ;--)
Archana,
Yes, school is doing good, getting a lot of rain ;--)
LOL! Yes I know, it was a revelation to know company folks expected studs to be like that. :--)
-
This was such a nice post! It gave me glimpses of what might come in the future. For now, I am hooked to career fairs: with one coming up in early February ;) I have my list of items to take ready over here. ;)
-
Sudipta,
:--)
Good luck with the career fair. :--)
-
just trying to get this confirmed. did you go to uw-madison?
-
|
| |
| << Home |
| |
|
|
|
|
So true! When you are on the other end, you really get the "complete picture". This time I went a step ahead and I actually did the first round of interviews too @ my school, UW-Madison. It was a great feeling although I was very nervous :P I have been going to Madison last couple months to recruit, and it feels great!