On Friday, March 29th, Career Services hosted its annual University-wide Spring Employment Fair in Curtiss Hall.
The event, which took place from noon to 3 p.m., brought in 140 employers from various industries and regions of the state and country.
In total, Career Services hosts eight employment fairs every academic year.
According to Tom Barnikow, the interim associate director of Career Services, the goal of these events has always been to allow students and alumni the opportunity to make meaningful connections in their intended career fields.
“Our sole purpose is to be the matchmaker between employers who have the positions and the students who will need the opportunities after they graduate,” Barnikow said.
Many companies cite employment fairs as being one of the most effective ways to recruit talented individuals to their organizations. Barriers between hiring managers and students are typically very high, but environments like the spring employment fair allow those barriers to be broken by unstructured, face-to-face meetings.
However, college students often find face-to-face meetings like those at the fair to be intimidating, as noted by business sophomore Madison Kulka.
“I was slightly nervous to approach employers at their tables,” Kulka said. “Knowing that they’re going to be interviewing you and taking note of how you conduct yourself in a professional setting puts you under a lot of pressure.”
Friday’s employment fair was sponsored by employers such as Rocket Mortgage by Quicken Loans, the U.S. Army, Nexteer Automotive, Morley Companies, and Consumers Energy, among other national and local businesses.
Some employers who were also present included Auto-Owners Insurance, Insight Global, Mercy Plus Healthcare Services and Saganing Eagles Landing Casino.
According to Barnikow, having a diverse range of employers can pose a challenge for students.
“There will always be multiple employers at the fair that you had not planned on meeting with,” Barnikow said, “and it is always preferable to be overprepared than underprepared.”
Being fully prepared to attend allows a student to make the most of the opportunities offered at the career fairs, leading to very positive experiences like the one criminal justice sophomore Hannah Peterson had on Friday.
“I enjoyed talking to the recruiters from the Detroit Police Department,” Peterson said. “They were friendly and knowledgeable, and seemed to really understand what it’s like being a college student looking for career opportunities that suit your skills and interests.”
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