Career prep amid COVID-19: FTSANE x FTSANY virtual career fair

On February 26, the Federation of Taiwanese Students Association of New England (FTSANE) and the Federation of Taiwanese Student Associations in New York (FTSANY) organized a free career fair online.

Together as co-organizers, 10 Taiwanese Student Associations from schools in the New York and New England areas brought in their career resources, including cooperative companies, alumni information sharing, and networking opportunities.

Instead of meeting on Zoom, the event took place on Gather. The online meeting platform mimics real life and allows people to interact in the virtual reality-like space, which became one of the reasons to attract students and recruiters to join.

“It’s so fun to attend a job fair like this. The information about visa and tax is helpful, especially for international students”. A student from Columbia University told The Taiwan Times.

Companies such as Shopee, F&T, Biasly, United Biomedical, and The Taiwan Times attended the job fair as recruiters. Other than hiring, some companies also used the opportunities to expand their networks and discuss possibilities for future collaboration.

The virtual career fair was a huge success that lasted six hours for hundreds of people gathered, including students from China and schools located in different areas. Since the event occurs only once a year, those who missed the event may need to wait until next year.