Online Postings and Job Fairs
P-Drive Location:
Project Vote Smart>Internship Materials>Recruitment>Internship Postings and Talk Outline.
Each semester you will recruit for the next internship program, unless the department decides it would be beneficial to recruit for the next two. E.g. In Fall 2014 you will be recruiting students for both the Spring 2015 and Summer 2015 internship programs.
The sites where we post the internship online can be found in the "Online Recruitment Posts and Logins" spreadsheet. You will need to update postings at least once per semester. The information to include is from the "Generic Online Internship Post." You should also use previous postings as a guide for specific idiosyncrasies of particular websites.
The expiration date of each posting will be the application deadline, unless you are done recruiting before then, which tends to happen.
Career Fairs
It is suggested that the Internship Coordinator attend all career fairs as you will be the point of contact for all applicants going forward. Staff members should be rotated at the fairs depending on the staff assignments in the intern room.
Preparing for the Fairs
It is the responsibility of the Internship Coordinator to gather all materials prior to each fair. Most of the material is in Emily's office and you will need to let one of them know you're using the stuff for career fairs. Make sure to return it after each fair. Any PVS material will be located in 7.150 and 7.154. Make sure to bring EXTRAS of everything except the table cloth.
- Strauss table cloth;
- Strauss buttons;
- Bowl for the buttons;
- Strauss pamphlets and information (do not give these to students, only used to highlight other Strauss programs);
- PVS mug;
- PVS flashlight pens;
- PVS brochures (we recently printed new ones specific to the Texas office-I prefer to hand these out, but feel free to bring any of the other ones too);
- PVS Self-Defense Manuals (if available);
- PVS business cards
- PVS "half page internship flyer";
- A blank folder for holding applications.
- A laptop so students can explore our website/take Vote Easy if applicable (You will be able to rent one from IT on the 3rd floor).
Resumes
Make sure that the staff member who speaks with a student who submits a resume writes on the back of the resume which program the student is interested in. It is also preferable for the staff to write down any outstanding facts about the student (e.g. "very interested," "seemed confused," "did prior research"). This will help in the application review process.
Resumes are accepted at career fairs, but you will contact students 3-5 days after the fair to ask for a cover letter OR writing sample to complete their application into our program. No student may be considered for an interview without this accompanying information.
Registering for Fairs
For any fair with a registration fee, you will need to confirm the cost with the Legislative Research Director, who holds the PVS credit card. After registering, follow up and make sure that the registration fee is paid in full by the deadline.
There are two career fairs in the fall and four in the spring that you will need to register and pay for.
1. University of Texas College of Communications Job and Internship Fair:
- Generally held at the DKR Texas Memorial Stadium. This fair is the longest at 5 hours. We generally average about 30-40 applications at this fair. The applicants here tend to not be very knowledgeable about PVS, but this fair opens our applicant pool to some very diverse majors.
- The registration fee will be waived as Strauss is a part of the College of Communications. You will register for the fair first and then contact by email the CCS Recruiter at <ccsrecruit@austin.utexas.edu> to request that the registration fee be waived as PVS is a part of the College. They know our fee is waived, however, so you can also send an email to the Career Fair coordinator (just respond to whoever sends you a registration confirmation/fair info email) to confirm.
- This fair occurs in both the fall and spring.
- Generally held in the Texas Union Ballroom. This fair is 4 hours. This is also the busiest fair where we generally receive about 50-60 applications. The fee is not waived for this fair, but it does have an "early bird" registration fee.
- This fair occurs in both the fall and spring.
- Generally held in the Texas Union Ballroom. This fair is 4 hours. There is also an "early bird" and "nonprofit" registration fee.
- It is the second slowest fair with about 20-30 applications. It is the most targeted, however, and the applicants here are, in general, the best fit with the internship's required qualifications.
- This fair only occurs in the spring.
- Generally held in the Recreation/Convocation Center (RCC). This fair is 3 hours. There is also an "early bird" registration fee.
- It is suggested that staff who attend this fair drive themselves or car pool and not be required to return to the office as the fair ends at 4 pm. This is the slowest fair with about 10-20 applications received. Applicants here tend to be lower quality than are seen from UT applicants, but PVS has established a good relationship with professors here and have had success with interns from St. Edward's.
- This fair only occurs in the spring, although they might be establishing one in the fall as well.
