Career Fair: possibilities in the air

Nic Cooper, Staff Reporter

During October, Central will be holding three different career fairs for students and industry professionals to mingle.

There will be an Engineering & Technology and Safety & Construction Fair on Thursday, Oct. 8 for students looking to go into engineering.

The Fall Career Fair is for all majors to attend and will be held on Tuesday, Oct. 15.

Both of these fairs will be held in the SURC ballroom from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

The College of Business Career Fair is set for Friday, Oct. 23. It will be located at the Central campus in Des Moines, Wash.

Vicki Sannuto, director of Career Services, said the main focus of holding the career fairs are to help students and upcoming graduates seek out jobs, in addition to internships and graduate school opportunities.

Sannuto said that if there are not any employers at the fair specific to a student’s major, there are other ways Career Services can help students seek out other opportunities.

“We have a database that’s brand new this fall that we have built right into your student account, called the Wildcat Career Network,” Sannuto said. “That is a database that has a list of internships in it and is also connected to a very large database with over 2 million jobs.”

Bruce Simpson, employer outreach liaison, said part of his role at Central is to connect students and faculty with industries.

Simpson was able to give more insight on some of the specifics of the Engineering & Technology and Safety & Construction Fair.

“There will be over 70 employers,” Simpson said.

Some of the big name companies attending include Kiewit, Boise Cascade, ConAgra Foods and Army Corps of Engineering.

Simpson said the atmosphere at a career fair is professional, so students are encouraged to dress accordingly.

“You don’t have to come in a suit [and] tie, but you know, don’t come in flip flops and shorts,” Simpson said.

Students can ask companies any questions that they might have regarding their major and how they might get connected with them, Simpson said.

“It’s basically like going to any other trade show event that you might attend, except what’s being sold is potential career opportunities,” Simpson said. “It goes both ways. The employers want to make a good impression on you because they want to hire people, and you want to make a good impression on them because you potentially want to be hired.”

According to Simpson, there will be a photographer on site to take free professional headshots for students to use in their LinkedIn profile.

Career Services can also help with writing cover letters, resume building  and preparing for interviews.