Last Friday, April 21, I represented SocialWorkJobBank and THE NEW SOCIAL WORKER magazine at the [1] New York City MSW Job Fair, held at Columbia University. This event was sponsored by:

• [2] Adelphi University School of Social Work
• [3] Columbia University School of Social Work
  
• [4] Fordham University Graduate School of Social Service
  
• [5] Hunter College School of Social Work
  
• [6] New York University School of Social Work
  
• [7] SUNY - Stony Brook (Manhattan) School of Social Welfare
  
• [8] Wurzweiler School of Social Work, Yeshiva University

The fair attracted more than 100 employers and several hundred job seekers. It was exciting to see the diversity of agencies and to be part of an event that brought together so many professional social work job seekers and employers in one place. Within a period of about 3 hours, a job seeker could make contact with a large number of decision makers.

I was impressed with the fact that the job fair attracted not only social work students and recent graduates, but many MSWs who had a number of years of experience and were looking for career advancement or change.

I was especially impressed with those job seekers who came with resumes in hand. One in particular handed me a resume with a cover letter addressed specifically to me, as I suppose he did for each agency at the fair, or at least those in whom he had some interest. Even though I was not hiring directly, I was impressed that this social worker did his homework by finding out ahead of time who would be at the job fair and preparing individualized materials.

If your school or alma mater has a job/career fair, or if there is one in your city or a nearby area, I would highly recommend attending! Whether you are actively seeking a job or want to see what jobs are “out there,” it is a wonderful opportunity to make contacts and do some professional networking.

If you know of a social work job/career fair coming up in your area, [9] let me know about it. I’d love to be involved!