The Career Services offices at SVSU hosted its annual part-time job fair on Saturday, Aug. 26, in the Student Life Rotunda.
The fair was the first of eight on-campus fairs the office will be hosting throughout the academic year.
Saturday’s fair was sponsored by the Bavarian Inn Lodge & Restaurant and was targeted toward students looking for a part-time job to help pay for tuition, rent, groceries and other expenses while taking classes throughout the school year. Forty-six employers were in attendance, including Chemical Bank, Pepsi Beverages Company and the Saginaw Spirit. Several SVSU offices also held a booth at the fair, including SVSU Athletics, Campus Recreation and Graduate Admissions.
Chesaney Wyse, an SVSU senior and business management major, came to the job fair to explore and learn about different companies and visited booths ranging from Verizon to a zip line aerial course company.
“I am glad I came,” she said. “(My sister and I) walked through to see all the booths. It’s always nice seeing what opportunities are out there.”
The next on-campus fair Career Services will be hosting is the Accounting and Finance Employment Fair, taking place Tuesday, Sept. 12, in the Curtiss Hall Seminar Rooms from 4 p.m. until 6 p.m.
Director of Career Services Mike Major said the most important element of career fairs is for students to make connections with employers.
“Employers desperately want to hire candidates with solid interpersonal skills and confidence,” he said. “When you think about what happens at an employment fair, it’s a busy place, a lot of people, a lot of first-time introductions. Students who come and perform in that environment often do well in the workplace, and that’s an intangible quality that an employer can’t measure on a resume or cover letter.”
Following the Accounting and Finance Fair, the Fall University-wide Employment & Networking Fair takes place Friday, Oct. 13, on the second floor of Curtiss Hall. The Health and Human Services Employment Fair is scheduled for Thursday, Nov. 16, and the Summer Job and Internship Fair will happen Tuesday, Jan. 30.
Major stressed the importance of bringing more resumes than students think they need when attending the career fairs.
“Most students find that they don’t bring enough resumes,” he said. “Think of the total number of employers divided by two; that’s the number of resumes you want to bring, and sometimes you give out even more than that.”
The Manufacturing & Information Technology Employment Fair will happen on Feb. 14, followed by the Spring University-wide Employment & Networking Fair on April 6. The Education Employment Fair rounds out the year and is set to take place on June 19.
Students have the ability to pre-register for every employment fair, which allows Career Services to have a ballpark number of students who will be attending the fair, but also gives small perks to the students who take advantage of doing so.
Pre-registered students are also let into the fair first, and are given a pre-printed name tag that tells employers which students took the time to pre-register for the fair.
The Career Services office also plans to host several Interview Skill Seminars and field trips throughout the year. More details on all of the office’s happenings can be found at svsu.edu/careers or by stopping by the office in Wickes 270.
