Abby Taylor
Staff Writer
“The reason you come to college is to get a job,” said Lauren Cole, the career services coordinator on Troy main campus.
Students will have the opportunity to speak with employers from over 50 companies about job opportunities at the fall career fair on Wednesday, Sept. 28, in Sartain Hall from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
“Some really good manufacturers will be attending this time, and several that might be business oriented, like MassMutual, and we have several risk management places,” Cole said. “MAX Credit Union, the brand new credit union coming to Troy, is looking to hire. We’ve got a good range of businesses hiring different majors.”
Recruiters from Texas Department of Public Safety, WSFA-TV, Birmingham Police Department, Memphis Teacher Residency and Honda Manufacturing of Alabama LLC will also be present.
According to Cole, the fall career fair will help students make networking connections, find internships and build business skills.
“We (students) get caught up with the things we should be concerned with like tests, making friends and social activities,” Cole said. “You’ll never have an opportunity to walk in a room with 50 to 55 employers after you graduate that are looking to hire. This is the time to start networking now.”
Students can meet with recruiters from each company to make connections and discuss internships.
“I would hope to gain networking opportunities or find an internship,” said Morgan Freese, a sophomore accounting major from Ozark.
Freese said her professors have been promoting the career fair.
“They’ve (the professors) encouraged how important it is for students,” said Freese. “If someone just told me about the career fair, I probably wouldn’t go out of my way to go, but with professors encouraging it, it really helps students see how necessary it is for us to be successful in our future careers and hopefully get those networking opportunities.”
In preparation for the career fair, Cole said students can go to troy.edu/careerservices for tips, examples and feedbacks on resumes.
“Compare your resume with (the examples), and if you’d like us to review it, then you can upload it in Trojan Link in your documents, and then it comes straight to us to be reviewed. You’ll get an email back from us with some tips.”
Freese explained that she had received help on her resume and said it would help her in the future.
“I thought my resume in high school looked good, but when I got to college it hit me that it’s not what upper-level or future career would be looking for,” Freese said.
Cole explained that employers coming to Troy are looking for specific skills in students.
“They want to know that you’re a hard worker, that you’re a good problem solver, that you can work well with a team,” Cole said. “They’re looking for if you’re teachable; if you’re willing to learn, they can work with you and teach you the job.”
Cole encouraged all students to come to the fair no matter what classification they are.
“For lower classmen, go ahead and come. Freshmen and sophomores are there to find networking opportunities and internships,” Cole said.
“Juniors and seniors, that’s the time to start getting your resume in people’s hands. Even if you haven’t heard about some of these companies, be open-minded. Some of them are hiring a variety of different majors. Come, explore and talk to people,” Cole said. “Even if you don’t walk away with a job, you have practiced approaching employers and talking to them. You’ve gotten your resume in shape. There’s no reason not to come.”
Cole said a student got an internship and then a job with an international company after attending the career fair.
“There was a young man who did an internship with a company out of Dothan, Panhandle Converters. He had never heard of them, but they’re an international company,” she said. “They have a headquarters overseas, and he was doing some computer-based work, got an internship with them, and then got hired on full time. Now he comes back to our career fairs as the recruiter.”
Vickie Miles, the assistant to provost and university registrar, shared her thoughts on the career fair.
“It does not matter how intelligent you are and how many degrees you have, eventually you have got to have a job,” said Miles. “This career fair is how you take that educational experience and take your real world, and put them together.”
Miles explained how this will benefit students, and the connections that can be made at the career fair.
“It benefits students in the short term because it gets a job; it benefits students in the long run because it helps them develop a career path,” Miles said. “What we see all the time is how Troy alums go to these companies, and then they come back and hire more Troy alums.”
Students will have the chance to get head shots taken, speak with professionals in the fields they would like to go into, and make connections that they could not have made before.
“I don’t think they have any other opportunity that I’m aware of where they will have that many prospective employers that came just to see them,” Miles said. “These people came to hire Troy University students.”
