Planning and Working Towards the Future

As evident by the images above, I put my future career first and decided to participate in SCAD’s Out to Launch.

It was definitely an out-of-body experience for me as I have stepped out of my introvert mindset and put on my extrovert mask. All those years of retail customer service paid off in a major way. I was able to network and connect with companies I would have never thought (along with a company or two I had looked up online). Keeping contact with some individuals from the event has started building some relationships as my career goes into full swing.

I did learn that having printed materials on-hand was a great idea, and LinkedIn is your best friend when business cards are non-existent.

Besides all the great things, there were a few things that could have been a little better. Being a time-conscience person, the dis-concern for people’s time was somewhat off-putting. But considering the institution I mentioned beforehand, it’s really no surprise.

Then, there was a lack of space for the participants. All that preparation — business cards, resumes, portfolios, etc — had to be crammed into this plastic bin. Any overflow had to be placed in a small gray box (mind you that came in hand as the event commenced). From undergrad, I can remember each participant getting their own booth where they could spread out. But given space and location we had, that would have been impossible to accomplish.

Speaking of the location, I feel the layout didn’t work for what the school was trying to accomplish. Having the split between different floors and the placement of the classrooms made for a flow problem. Being in a back corner room doesn’t exactly entice prospective employers to visit your station. I felt a little shafted as some employers I wanted to see never came to my floor (despite asking for some help from the staff).

Ulterior motives was another problem I felt undermined the purpose of a reverse career fair. I don’t let certain companies and organizations come in trying to mine for prospective employees for their low-wage jobs.

Other than those gripes, I found the event to be very rewarding (along with tiresome and mind-numbing at times). Hopefully, this event has pushed my career in the right direction.

Come back next week for more on my life as a creative.

Don’t be a stranger! Comment below.

Originally published at http://adreonpatterson.net on May 11, 2019.