Jessica Leon

Career fair networking helps finance, operations management major find best fit for employment at Goldman Sachs

Jessica Leon graduated in May 2014 with a double major in finance and operations management. While at U of I, she founded the Hispanic Business Student Association in efforts to increase diversity within the College of Business and Economics. She met with multiple Career Services career advisors and attended a total of four career fairs, which she said helped lead to her job success. She received an internship with Goldman Sachs, which led to a full-time position.

“Career Services has helped me in setting up and continuously improving my resume by adding or taking away certain things in order to tailor it specifically to a job. They really work with me, because they give suggestions and then I choose whether to implement the changes or not. I have met with a career advisor multiple times so far. Last time I met with them about negotiating an offer, understanding the benefits, whether it was good for me for my long-term goals and salary. It was very helpful.

For me, resume workshops and career fairs have been the most useful events Career Services has done. Even though I didn’t actually get an internships or job through the fair, I was able to get to know all of the companies targeting U of I students and do some networking. I applied for some positions just for practice and to see how many interviews my resume and networking skills could get me, which ended up being three. I definitely recommend students go to the career fairs, even as freshmen, because it gives them more time to network and find out which companies would be a good fit for them.

I highly recommend students come to Career Services and use its resources. Every time I come, I learn something new.”

— Jessica Leon '14