By TANGELA JOHNSON

tjj004@latech.edu

 

Today’s dreams are becoming tomorrow’s realities for many students due in part to career day.

Many students came to the Student Center, Main Floor last Thursday to talk to potential employers and submit résumés. Derek Waggenspack, a senior geographic information science major, said this  networking event is for students to build relationships with businesses from near and far, as well as learning skills to improve future job interviews.

“The main reason for the job fair is to get in touch with the companies,” he said.

Waggenspack said he is not completely sure of what he wants to do with his degree, but the fair helped him weigh his options. He also said he was impressed by the companies’ presentations.

Jacob Johnson, a senior construction engineering technology major, said he also participated and was impressed by the event.

“This was by far the best career day they’ve had,” Johnson said. “I’ve got six interviews over the next two weeks.”

As a fifth-year senior, Johnson said he is ready to take on the real world in his field as a project manager. Johnson said he plans to complete his degree in May, and encourages those who want to participate in the future to be prepared.

“I’ve been going to career fairs for a while now, so I heard about it from fliers and previous experiences,” Johnson said. “Everyone who goes should bring a good résumé and a handshake.”

Cheryl Myers, director of the Career Center, said this event has became a campus tradition.

Myers said the Career Center has sponsored Career Day since 1989.

“Career Days are sponsored by the Career Center to provide students with opportunities to meet with prospective employers to explore career options in the current job market for full-time and summer employment as well as co-op and internship opportunities.” 

Myers said with the right presentation, students have the opportunity to build solid careers with strong companies.

“Students are requested to dress professionally and bring résumés to distribute to company representatives,” Myers said. “They will be able to obtain company literature and business cards as well as talk with representatives about specific positions and how their qualifications may meet the needs of the company or agency.” 

Laurel Levine, an industrial and organizational psychology graduate student, said the fair was encouraging, but the focus of it seemed to be on engineering.

“[A] majority of the careers were geared toward engineering,” Levine said. “One of them was geared toward education. I am a human resourcer, and the companies weren’t advertising for it.”

Levine said many people offered to forward her résumé to the human resource departments of their companies, which meant no on-campus interview.

“A lot of people commended me on my major,” Levine said. “They told me I had a good career choice, but none of them were advertising for it.”

Levine said in the future she hopes the fair is more diverse so others will be able to schedule interviews on campus.

“I would have to go out of state for an interview while others would get hired on campus,” Levine said.

Myers said she hopes to remedy situations like Levine’s in the future.

Myers said, “It is the desire of the Career Center staff that this event will continue to grow and to be an effective resource for all participants.”