Annual Career Development Conference Coming Soon

When Texas Tech students head home for the holidays, some may also be heading toward a career, thanks to help from College of Media & Communication alumni.

The annual Career Development Conference in Dallas, presented by the Dallas COMC alumni and sponsored by the COMC, will be held Jan. 11 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Mattito’s Centrum, a Tex-Mex restaurant.

Representatives from non-profit organizations, advertising agencies, government agencies and sports media outlets will be there to appeal to all majors and interests.

Sarah Chollar Ward, a Dallas-area alumna, said she discovered her future career at the PR and advertising agency M/C/C at the Dallas conference a few years ago, where she met Rachel David and Jenifer Powell, previous employees of the firm, now both account executives at HCK2.

“They gave me kind of an in,” Ward said.

Now she is paying it forward by helping to organize the conference and presenting career opportunities to fellow COMC Red Raiders.

Photo provided by ttudallascareers.org.

Photo provided by ttudallascareers.org.

Students who attend can expect to hear career advice from professionals and meet recruiters from Dallas-Fort Worth companies, which can potentially land them internships or full-time jobs out of college.

The average attendance is 50 students, said Rachel David, conference co-chair, but the organizers are hoping to see at least 75 students this year. About 25 alumni usually attend, but more are expected this year.

The 2016 conference coordinators are asking recruiters to use a job-fair-style setup instead of conducting formal interviews.

The conference is geared toward juniors and seniors, David said, because they usually have more experience and are ready for an internship or a job. Untitled-9Students are encouraged to follow up with recruiters they meet at the conference to discuss internship and job opportunities.

“From my experience, a job didn’t just land in my lap out of college,” Ward said.

David also stressed that students must be willing and driven to reach out to employers.

“We don’t live in a world where coming out of college, just having a degree, is going to get you that first job automatically out of the gate,” David said. “It is something you have to work hard for in a sense of networking and searching.”

Getting a job in today’s market is about who you know—not what you know—according to David. She said the point of the conference is to help students mend “the transition gap from just graduating to making real-world connections with recruiters, alumni, who are currently in this business who have the opportunities available.”

Employers at the conference will include not only Texas Tech alumni, but also other recruiters in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

Students are asked to submit resumes when they register. Ward said this is important to do because two COMC alumni will read the resumes and suggest revisions to help improve them before the conference.

“Bring the updated resume to the conference itself as well as utilize it after the conference when applying for internships and full-time positions,” David advised.

Photo provided by ttudallascareers.org

Photo provided by ttudallascareers.org

Registration, which costs $15, ends Dec. 4. The first 50 students who register will be able to tour different companies in the Dallas-Fort Worth area the day after the conference.

Ward said the conference organizers hope students will take advantage of the opportunity.

“This is something that the alumni are doing in their free time,” she said. “It’s not something we would want to invest in if we didn’t think it was worth it.”

Added Ward: “Most importantly, you will be building long-lasting relationships with alumni, which is extremely important in trying to get your first job.”

For more information, visit the conference website.

About Natalie Morales

Natalie Morales, a senior Journalism student, graduates in May of 2016. She has always loved English classes, and writing, and is now pursuing it as a career. She hopes to get a job as a news reporter for a television station in West Texas so that she stays close to home. She wants to eventually be an anchor in a top market.