UNCP’s career fair on Nov. 2 featured a wide variety of jobs and organizations showcasing job opportunities and teaching career-readiness skills. Students, faculty and local company representatives came together in the University Center Annex to witness the promotion of healthy work ethics.
Lumbee River EMC, OneMain Financial, Waffle House, McDonald’s, FoodCorps and other organizations each promoted internships and both part-time and full-time job opportunities for students.
There were also tables explaining how to set up profiles on BraveWeb’s Handshake website and LinkedIn, how to succeed in a job interview, professional photography and a station specifically set up for networking.
Promoters handed out brochures, fliers and job applications, on-site in some cases, while giving brief talks at each of their tables about the importance of work experience.
Harriett Johnson, a representative of Two Hawk Employment Services, a company that recruits potential workers and helps build their job profiles, hosted one of the tables at the event.
“We get a lot of students trying to grow their profiles. They may not work full-time initially but they’re willing to grow in the company by doing part time work,” Johnson said. “Companies in this town, because of the college, will really work around your schedule.”
The wide variety of job types for students to choose from ranged from office internships with OneMain, fast food jobs at McDonald’s and Waffle House, as well as paid volunteer work with FoodCorps.
Part of growing a work profile is networking, which was a big focus of the career fair.
A business administration professor at UNCP assigned her students to blend in with the actual companies at the career fair.
Instead of trying to hire workers, these students gave tips on how candidates can improve their chances of getting hired. One tip was how to make an “elevator pitch,” a short 30-second speech to answer the question “why should we hire you?”
Students at the event were impressed by how well the companies and students came together in one place to network and share ideas.
A popular theme repeated by all the students working the career fair: “It is all about who you know.”
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