Priyanka Sharma
Staff Writer
Troy Career Services held its Spring Career Fair on Wednesday, April 1, at Sartain Hall. The fair included 52 employers offering internships and job opportunities, the highest number of employees to participate in the career fair to date.
“For underclassman, this is a really good time to do some job exploration to see what jobs are out there, what career path they are going towards, and find internships,” said Lauren Cole, the coordinator of career services. “People could get jobs quicker if they had internships.
“For upperclassman, it’s definitely a good time to start making relationships in the career field they are interested in for a job once they graduate.”
The fair was called the “All Majors Career Fair.” There were employers with opportunities for almost every school at Troy. However, there was a larger number of employers for criminal justice, nursing and business areas.
“A lot of the companies are looking for good students from all majors that have transferable skills, which are communication skills and problem-solving skills, not necessarily just a specific major,” Cole said.
Most employers present at the fair have participated in previous career fairs at the university.
“Employers typically enjoy it,” Cole said. “We see a lot of the same employers come back each semester. They enjoy meeting our students, and are especially positive when students are prepared, bring their resumes and have done a little bit of research on who is coming.”
“Today has been pretty productive. I found a lot of good students for the business side of the company,” said Freddie Thomas from Honda Manufacturing of Alabama at Lincoln, one of the participating employers. “We will be excited to have students from Troy work for us.”
Career Services will be surveying students about receiving jobs before graduation. Currently, the percentage of Troy students receiving jobs after graduation is around 60 percent.
Regarding the career fair helping students get a job, Cole said, “They might not be hiring right then, but they want to make a pipeline of students by collecting resumes and having students in line as they graduate.
“They want to talk to students, and, if they think that a student is a really good fit for their company, it might work out really well.”
“The student participation was remarkable,” said Mac-jane Chukwu, a graduate international relations major from Lagos, Nigeria, who worked the event.
“Students were waiting before 10, and there were a lot of students coming all day. I think the event was successful.”
