Our students have come to count on our career and internship fairs each semester, which draw renowned businesses to campus and give students access to contacts in their dream industries.
In September, our fall College of Business Career Fair attracted 280 students and 33 businesses to Barsema Hall’s Haribo Commons, including Alloyd, Fastenal, Graybar Electric and Target, to name a few.
This year’s career fair in Haribo Commons combined all areas of study, apart from accountancy.
Matthew Benning organizes the college career fair each semester, and he sees firsthand how essential career fairs are for our students.
“Career fairs are one of the few times companies come out en masse to actually meet students,” Benning said. “Without networking events like these, students risk being just another résumé in a giant stack of applications.”
This lively, face-to-face environment allows students to hone their professionalism, networking skills and communication.
“The College of Business Career Fair is the perfect venue for companies looking for multiple roles across their organization,” Benning added. “Students have a great opportunity of focusing their attention on companies specifically hiring for roles in their field.”
Also in September, the Accountancy Career Fair brought a whopping 202 accountancy students to the Holmes Student Center’s Duke Ellington Ballroom where they were able to mingle with 49 recruiters from nearly four dozen companies like Crowe, the FBI, KPMG, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Reyes Coca Cola Bottling Co., Plante Moran and Wipfli.
“The Holmes Student Center Duke Ellington Ballroom was filled with excitement and energy at the Accountancy Career Fair,” said Suzanne Youngberg, who coordinates the accountancy fair each semester. “Conversations flowed easily as students and recruiters built relationships and learned more about each other. The event is a great opportunity for students to learn about accounting firms/companies, interact with their peers in a professional setting and land a coveted interview for an internship or full-time hire.”
Justin Yee is a first-year finance student who was impressed by all he saw at the College of Business Career Fair.
“Going to the career fair was truly eye-opening. It gave me the opportunity to talk to four or five companies and engage in conversations,” he said. “It allowed me to gather more information about the company and positions than what a job description and listing has to offer. The networking that you can make out of just simply talking to people with an open mind and friendly tone is incredible.”
Claire Roethler is a senior in finance, and she has been to three career fairs in the college.
“Students with strong résumés can put a face to a name and guarantee that a human sees their résumé,” she said. “On the other hand, students with excellent soft skills can demonstrate their value beyond their résumé in a way that would go unnoticed until given the chance to interview.”
Jessica Olson, a senior in management, was able to land a summer internship through the connections she made at the college career fair.
“The career fair had a huge impact on me because it directly led to my summer internship as a human resources intern with Alarm Detection Systems,” she said. “Through the fair, I was able to find an internship that fully supported me, aligned perfectly with what I wanted to do and gave me the opportunity to work with a company that provides the best resources and encouragement for its interns. I would absolutely encourage students to attend because it’s one of the best ways to make meaningful connections, explore career paths and potentially secure internships or full-time roles that can truly shape their future.”
