Emine believes that Career Days is a very useful resource for Bilkent students, where they can network, talk to professionals in the field, and obtain valuable information about the business world. She recommends taking the opportunity to further one's career prospects during Career Days and says, "If you are well-prepared beforehand, you have the chance to impress company representatives just by going and talking to them. All students should attend the Career Fair as well as the company meetings in order to develop contacts with the firms."
Emine has provided students with some advice about what to do both before and while meeting company representatives:
Clearly explain why you want the position with the company and why they should hire you.
Emine emphasizes the importance of past work and internship experience as well as social life in the job search process. She points out that these can set your CV apart from others for employers engaged in screening applicants. "Education alone is not enough any more, you should have social activities, volunteer work, and prominent roles in university clubs under your belt. Your CV should contain everything that shows you in a positive light for a prospective employer,"she adds.
Hande Yedidal (IR/IV)
Career Days Can Help You Too
Sibel Koral, who came from İstanbul to join the alumni brunch on February 6, took a very active role in Career Days '99 and kindly shared her experiences with Bilkent News regarding her work at the Career Fair. Currently, she works at Şişecam Glassware Group as a strategic planning specialist in the Planning Department.
Sibel applied to the Career Development and Placement Center to work as an intern in her second year. She benefited from the services that the center provides, such as how to prepare a CV and how to make the initial contact with a company. Later, she took a very active part in Career Days '99, especially in Career Fair '99, which was the first in Ankara. As the head of the Human Resources Club and representative of the MBA Club, her responsibilities included encouraging students to attend the fair, preparing questionnaires and making the opening speech for the Career Fair, and acting as a facilitator for representatives from the companies that attended the fair.
Based on her experience, she believes that Career Days help students in many ways, such as preparing them for their professional lives, giving them ideas about future career paths, and obtaining the positions that they deserve. Career Days also promotes the university and its students to national and international companies. She says, "It was a very good experience for me to take an active part in Career Fair 99. I believe that besides obtaining a university degree, students should also take advantage of opportunities for personal and professional growth. If students participate in events, fairs, and volunteer activities, besides attending their classes, they will be more valuable to society after they graduate. The university years are the best chance to do all these things. Why regret it later?"
During her last four years at Bilkent, she actively participated in Career Days, did five internships, followed Human Resources publications, met with alumni working at various companies, and targetted companies to apply for a job. Her job search was a multi-faceted effort that included taking full advantage of Career Days.
Emine Yeşil is a Bilkent University American Culture and Literature graduate who started working for Finansbank last year with the help of Career Days. During Career Days '99 she acquired first-hand information about the participating firms and applied to those that interested her. Subsequently, she received twelve offers of employment, one of them from Finansbank. She is now working in the company's Human Resources Department.