Clarksville, Ark. --- On Wednesday, February 29, Ozarks Career Services played host to recruiters from 27 different organizations during the spring career fair, held in the university's Rogers Conference Center.
According to Kimberly Spicer, career services director, the number of organizations represented at the fair was up from recent fairs, due in part to the slowly improving job market. Spicer said that this job growth, while still not at pre-recession levels, has allowed organizations to put more resources into recruiting. The 27 organizations at the fair represented a broad array of job and educational opportunities, offering access to representatives from graduate schools, professional schools, school districts, summer camps, local businesses, corporations, police departments, and state and federal governmental agencies.
Spicer said the wide range of interests represented at Wednesday’s career fair also resulted in a good turnout from the campus community. She said that more than 230 students, faculty, and staff attended the fair, and emphasized that seeing the interest from the students always leaves a positive impact on the recruiters. "A lot of campuses can’t say they have 25% of their students come to their career fair," she said.
Another factor that Spicer said played an important role in the success of this fair was the improvements which have been made to the campus facilities within the past year. This is the second time the fair has been held in the university’s Rogers Conference Center, and Spicer said she couldn’t be more pleased with the new space. "Because of the improved space, we’re seeing an increase in the number of organizations coming," she said. "We’ve never had a place with such a good flow, where students could really see everything that was there. I think this conference center is perfect. We were able to fit all tables in there comfortably. And, we have room to grow the fair as the economy continues to improve," she added.
Planning is already underway for the fall 2012 career fair. While Spicer said attendance at this fair was very good, she is hoping to bring in even more students, faculty, and staff in the fall. "We’re thinking about some different things we can do next fall to make it easier for people to find time to attend," she said. One of her primary goals for the fall fair will be to encourage faculty members to come and network with the recruiters, because faculty are often the first point of contact for the students when they are looking at graduate schools or career options.
Spicer said that she encourages students to be thinking about the fall career fair, and prepare for it by looking over the list of recruiters when it is finalized, making note of any they’re specifically interested in. But she adds that even if they don’t see anything directly related to their major, they should try to stop in at the fair for at least a few minutes. "The Career Fair has opportunities for everyone. I tell students if they have extra time, to talk to other groups. You never know when you might have a chance to network," she said. "No matter if the student is a freshman or a senior, an art major, a biology major, or an accounting major - they can come to the career fair and find something that would fit them. I think there are a lot of opportunities there, and that students, faculty and staff should take advantage of that, even if they have only a few minutes."
Spicer said that students who didn’t have an opportunity to attend the recent career fair can make an appointment with career services if they have questions about the job search process, or about graduate school. To setup an appointment, call career services at 479-979-1320 or email Spicer at kaspicer@ozarks.edu.
More than 230 students, faculty, and staff attended the spring 2012 career fair, held Wednesday, February 29 in the Rogers Conference Center.
Topics: Career Services