Challenge and Support What did we get ourselves into?

One week to Chicago

That's right -- just one more week until The Placement Exchange in Chicago! So far I'm sitting at 5 interviews, with a couple more that I need to finalize. Not a huge amount, but not exactly small-time, either. Granted, my first time at the Oshkosh Placement Exchange I naively scheduled over 20 interviews.  Take my advice: don't do that.  Ever.

My goal is to have 7 or 8 interviews scheduled before the conference, and to hopefully schedule 3 or 4 more once I arrive.  A solid 12 interviews would be a full conference, I think.

Some questions that I've been mulling over as I prepare for the conference:

1. Business cards:  Do I need them?  I don't currently work for a company that provides business cards.  Will I need more than my resume and my winning smile as I walk around the job conference?
2. Are there socials at TPE like there are at OPE, or is the social aspect reserved for the NASPA conference itself?
3. Seriously, does anybody need a roommate?  I'm going to wind up staying at a seedy hotel if I can't find someone to split the cost of a room with.

I'm finally starting to feel the nerves about the job search.  Here's hoping I can wrap it up quickly!

Odds are, I won't be chiming in again until TPE.  But I do plan on checking in "from the trenches".