University of Manchester Careers Blog

Often I’m lying in bed watching YouTube videos of hidden messages inside Disney films, and I ask myself the question ‘why would I ever need to get out of bed?’ Maybe you’re the same (or a little less lazy than me) so I’m here to tell you why you should get up and get down to the Big Careers Fair!

By the way, Rapunzel and Flynn Rider from Tangled are the first guests at the coronation of Princess Elsa in Frozen – what are the odds?

1. Don’t know what you want to do

You’ll hear a lot during your time at university that it’s okay to not know what career you want yet. That’s perfectly true, but it doesn’t give you any particular advice on how to change that. So, research different career paths you may enjoy and have a real think about this. Often this can be googling a load of different organisations to learn about job roles and stuff, which is a bit of a pain. If only all these companies got together and stood around in a room waiting for you, so they can tell you all this information…

If only…

The Big Careers Fair does just that my friend! With over 70 recruiters on day one, offering opportunities in areas such as management, business, marketing, finance, HR, and more! You might not come out of the fair screaming “I WANT TO WORK IN HR!” – But it may help give you an idea of what you definitely don’t want to do, and what options you’re still open to.

2. Giving you answers to questions you didn’t know you had

In some weird kind of Doctor Who paradox, recruiters at the Careers Fair give you answers to questions that you didn’t even know you wanted to ask. You walk in and you find lots of people stood at tables with big posters and leaflets ready to tell you all about everything their organisation has to offer.

We also have an app that tells you information on who everyone is and where they’ll be. That way you can be selective about who you see. The app can be downloaded on the App Store or Google Play – just search for the Big Careers Fair.

3. Ask the silly questions

I don’t mean go up to a recruiter and ask them if they want to pull your finger, but this is a great opportunity to ask the silly questions! No one wants to write an email to the head of Apple and ask them what a ‘technical executive’ actually does – but at a careers fair, you can waltz up to someone and simply ask them these questions and get some clarity.

Let’s be honest too, so many jobs are advertised with strange titles that it almost put you off applying to them. A Communications Executive Assisting Officer of Internal Relationship Guidance and all that nonsense is often thrown around. So, at a fair you can ask them what on earth that job entails. And, to be honest, there’s no such thing as a silly question.

4. Freebies

There’s a free bus there and loads of firms give out fancy notepads and fancy pens. And as an added bonus, we have a free bus running from Dover Street to the fair and back.