Illinois Tech Career Services · Register Now
Register Now. The Fall 2026 Career Fair Is Only a Few Weeks Out.
Uniting talent with opportunity. Claim your spot today, then put the next four weeks to work.
Events · Career Services · Elevate
Fall 2026 Career Fair
Date
Thursday, September 17
Time
12:30 to 4:30 p.m.
Place
Hermann Hall
3241 S. Federal Street
Four hours, one room, and more employers than you will meet in a semester of applying online. The Fall Career Fair is the single highest-leverage afternoon on the Career Services calendar, and the students who get the most out of it are not the ones with the best resumes. They are the ones who walked in with a plan.
You have four weeks. That is more than enough time to be genuinely ready, and just little enough that starting this week matters. Here is how to spend them.
Four Weeks, Four Moves
- This week: register, and fix your resume. Registration is on Handshake and takes two minutes. The resume takes longer, which is exactly why it goes first. Bring a draft to a coach or start with the resume and cover letter guidance and templates.
- Two weeks out: pick your ten. When the employer list posts, do not try to meet everyone. Choose ten companies, read what they actually do, and write one specific question for each. “What does a new engineer work on in their first six months?” lands. “So what does your company do?” does not.
- One week out: practice the ninety seconds. Who you are, what you are studying, what you have built, what you are looking for. Say it out loud until it stops sounding rehearsed. Interview prep covers the version of this that works at a crowded table.
- The day before: print, charge, plan. Fifteen printed copies, a charged phone, your portfolio link ready to hand over, and the route to your first three tables mapped. Arrive at 12:30, not at 4:00 — recruiters are sharpest early.
One thing most students skip: ask for a card, then send a short follow-up email within forty-eight hours naming something specific from the conversation. That single message is what separates the students recruiters remember from the ones they do not.
Want to Help Run It?
An event this size runs on volunteers — greeting employers, directing students, staffing check-in, and keeping the floor moving. It is also one of the better ways to spend an afternoon if you are early in your search: you meet recruiters from the other side of the table, and you see how the whole thing works before you have to work it yourself.
Volunteer at the Career Fair
Interested in volunteering? Email Nicholas Mancari, Director of Career and Professional Development, directly — tell him your year, your major, and roughly when you are free on the seventeenth.
nmancari@illinoistech.eduNot sure the fair is for you? It is. First-years who go just to watch come back in year three knowing exactly how to work a room, and graduate students consistently find that the conversations are shorter and more useful than any application portal. Every college, every year, every program.
The Checklist
Open the row you need. Everything here fits on one afternoon of preparation, spread across four weeks.
Five Rows · Select One to Open It
1Before the Event2Day of the Event3After the Event4Mistakes to Avoid5Top Resources
1Before the Event
Six things to do in the weeks leading up to September 17▾
- Research participating employers and the roles they are hiring for
- Upload a current resume to Handshake and have Career Services review it
- Prepare a concise introduction and a thoughtful question for each company
- Attend a career fair prep event or workshop — they are posted on 312
- Update your LinkedIn profile, and check your privacy settings while you are there
- Read recent company news, product launches, and social feeds
2Day of the Event
What to wear, what to carry, and how to pace four hours▾
- Dress professionally — the Career Clothing Closet has free options if you need them
- Bring printed resumes and business cards
- Deliver a prepared thirty to sixty second introduction
- Keep the conversation on your strengths and what you want to do next
- Collect business cards and company materials as you go
- Stay hydrated and take a break between conversations
3After the Event
The forty-eight hours that decide whether any of it mattered▾
- Send personalized thank-you emails within twenty-four to forty-eight hours
- Connect on LinkedIn, referencing something specific you discussed
- Schedule informational interviews with the contacts you made
- Put notes and follow-up dates on your calendar while it is fresh
- Reflect on what worked, so the next room is easier
4Five Mistakes to Avoid
Each one is common, and each one is visible from across the room▾
- Resume dumping. Handing over paper without a conversation is the same as handing over nothing.
- Monopolizing a recruiter. There is a line behind you. Five good minutes beats twenty.
- Leading with salary and benefits. Those are offer-stage questions, not first-conversation questions.
- Unprofessional body language. Phone away, eyes up, hand out.
- Not researching the company. It shows in the first ten seconds, every time.
5Top Resources to Get Ready
Illinois Tech first — all free, all built for our students▾
Start Here · Illinois Tech
Book a career coach — free, thirty minutes, before the seventeenth
Resumes & Cover Letters — template, ATS rules, and examples
Interview Preparation — what to say and how to practice it
Career Services resources — the full library, including resume building
The LinkedIn Index — our own answers, sorted by topic
Sharpen the Details
LinkedIn Profile Checklist (PDF) — a section-by-section pass on your profile
Elevator pitch examples — worked openings if yours still feels stiff
Prep events and workshops on 312 — check the feed before the fair
Build your portfolio — have a link ready to hand over
Nothing to Wear? That Is Solved.
The Career Clothing Closet gives Illinois Tech students free professional attire — suits, blazers, dress shirts, shoes. It is in Hermann Hall, Room 111, the same building as the fair. Walk in Wednesdays from 12:50 to 1:50 p.m., or email careerservices@illinoistech.edu at least three days ahead for a Friday appointment. Go before September 17, not the morning of.
Register, then book twenty minutes with a coach before the seventeenth. Walk in with a plan and the afternoon pays for itself.
Employers: information on reserving a table and recruiting at Illinois Tech is on the employer page. Students, keep going: Job search strategy · Career communities · All upcoming events
Career Services and Experiential Learning · MTCC Room 106 · elevate@illinoistech.edu
