Southern University hosted its annual Career Fair on Wednesday, Sept. 17 in Seymour Gym. Students from various classifications and majors went to the fair in search of opportunities ranging from summer internships to full time employment.
“We were full all day,” said Career Services Director Al Barron in reference to the continuous flow of students during the Career Fair. Although student participant numbers were not available, Barron stated there were 92 companies in attendance.
Many of the exhibiters who came to recruit at the Career Fair were Southern graduates.
“One of the people who interviewed me, he’s actually my supervisor now,” said Khalil Hanifa, who landed a job after participating in the fair.
Hanifa graduated from Southern in civil engineering in May 2007 and is enjoying his work experience.
“I work at LTRC (Louisiana Transportation and Research Center), and it’s the research and development side of transportation; and so far I don’t have any complaints,” said Hanifa. “I love my job.”
Hanifa explained that students should keep their options open when speaking with recruiters. This will enable you to “get your foot in the door” and show that you are flexible.
“Come with an open mind; don’t really limit yourself to one thing. Even if you know what your interests are, you never want to tell an employer or potential employer: ‘I only want to do this’,” said Hanifa.
Although Jerron Rouser is set on being an architect, he went into the Career Fair with an open mind in order to explore current opportunities available for architecture majors.
“I’m keeping my options open,” said Rouser, a freshman from Dallas. “I’m not really looking for anything.”
There were many companies in search of engineering majors; however, some students felt that their major was under-represented at the Career Fair.
“When you look around you see more business opportunities; and with my major, it doesn’t correlate,” said senior child development major Alisha Paddio. “I feel that they do not cater to education.”
Paddio’s reason for attending the fair was to obtain extra points in one of her classes, but while there she decided to see what opportunities were available.
“Basically, I’m just walking around getting brochures,” explained Paddio, “just looking, seeing what other jobs they have to offer even though that’s not exactly what I’m going to do.”
As a senior, Paddio advises students to begin the search for internships and other job opportunities early in their college careers.
“When you graduate, you want to have jobs and opportunities waiting for you,” said Paddio. “This is what I regret: towards my junior and senior year that’s when I started to get real serious; I would advise them (students) to start looking early, to strive for the best and don’t settle for nothing less.”
Sidney Reed II, a sophomore mechanical engineering major from New Orleans, felt that the Career Fair had many opportunities for students with his major.
“They have a lot of big name companies and they also have smaller companies,” said Reed. “I talked with Caterpillar, Exxon Mobil, American Airlines, and then I talked to some smaller companies to get internships.”
CN, a railroad transportation company, was also in search for engineering majors to fill internship positions.
“We do look for that professional polished look,” said Salinas. “Because it’s a career fair, we know that, on occasion, the student may not have time to come forward between classes; and if that is the reason for them coming to us not dressed professionally, we are understanding.
Salinas stressed that professional attire and resumes are important when attending a career fair and during the interviewing process.
Students are encouraged to take advantage of the resources that are offered in the Office of Career Services. According to the University website, some resources offered include providing information regarding summer employment and cooperative programs and career counseling.
If you would like more information about Career Services, visit the University website or phone 227.771.2200.
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