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Career Services > For Graduate Students > FAQs

FAQs = Frequently Asked Questions

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Q: As a graduate student, should I use Hokies4Hire?

A: Yes, for those seeking industry or government employment, by all means complete your profile, upload and publish your resume (or vita). This enables employers who are looking for resumes of VT students and alumni to find you.

Don't stop at this step. Publishing your resume is passive. Also take the active step of viewing the job listings and applying for each job of interest. The jobs in Hokies4Hire represent a segment of the job market; you won't find all industries or types of positions represented.

See complete information about using Hokies4Hire and the On-Campus Interviewing Program.

Q: Are there jobs for master's and doctoral students in On-Campus Interviewing?

A: See the answer in the On-Campus Interviewing FAQs.

Q: Are job fairs and On-Campus Interviewing (OCI) the same thing?

A: No. See a detailed answer in On-Campus Interviewing FAQs.

Q: Is there a job fair just for graduate students?

A: Most job fairs focus on a career field or academic field and are hosted by a college, a department, or a student organization. (Expo by the Student Engineers' Council in the College of Engineering; Horizons by the College of Business; etc.) See job and career fairs for the full list for each semester with links to each fair's web site.

A fair does not have to be hosted by your department or college in order to be useful to you. The employment world is not organized in the same way that colleges and universities are organized. What matters is for you to learn, in advance, the specific employers attending each fair, and if any have hiring needs matching your career preparation.

Graduate students, especially master's degree candidates, should research the web sites for the fair(s) for your field or college to see which attending employers seek graduate students.

Q: What if the kind of employment I'm seeking isn't included in any of the job fairs?

A: Job fairs don't represent the entire job market, or all industries, or all types of employment. Employers are willing to undertake the time and expense to travel to campus if there is a critical mass of candidates with whom to speak, and if that's the most cost-effective way to meet hiring needs. Job seekers always need to use a variety of sources, whether seeking academic jobs or industry and government jobs.

If you see a need for a job fair that doesn't exist, your student professional association could examine the feasibility of taking on the project of hosting such an event. There are many specialized job fairs on the Virginia Tech campus, with new ones added almost every year, even during years when the job market is tight. Career Services staff would be happy to provide advice on what such a project entails.