Hundreds take advantage of the on-campus opportunity to find jobs and internships.
- Communication studies major Clarke Yancy (left) speaks with Nella Gigliotti '16 and Tom Boyle from Heeter.
- Communication studies major Leah Shafron speaks to a Nemacolin Woodlands Resort representative.
- Trooper Aaron Allen talks to business majors Carl Cash (center) and Davon Brown.
Zach Zigmond ´14 began working at Sherwin-Williams during his sophomore year at Cal U while earning his bachelor’s degree in accounting.
Now a manager, he was back on campus Oct. 3 for the Cal U Fall Career Fair, hoping to attract current students for the company’s management administration training program as well as part-time help.
“I use my accounting skills every day, and Cal U also taught me to interact with people, which is something I do constantly at work,” said Zigmond. “We have opportunities available and came here because we know we can find top talent at Cal U.”
Approximately 90 employers recruiting all majors for full-time and part-time jobs, internships and volunteer opportunities occupied booths inside the Convocation Center as hundreds of Cal U students capitalized on the networking opportunity.
Ally Wilson, a senior criminal justice major, visited the Pennsylvania State Police booth to learn more about the process from trooper and recruiter Aaron Allen. She has already passed the written and oral exams.
“I’ve wanted to be a police officer for as long as I can remember, and if I do not make it through the state academy, I will go through a local academy,” she said. “Either way, I am going to police.”
Allen was impressed.
“She seemed squared away and very confident, and those are the type of people we want,” he said. “She’s a great candidate.”
First-year student and psychology major Erin Polakovsky enjoyed visiting the Peace Corps booth and hearing about a recruiter’s experience counseling in Thailand.
“I plan on going into clinical mental health counseling so hearing about that was pretty awesome. I will go anywhere to work,” Polakovsky said. “I really love it here and my major.”
Junior communication studies major Stephen Elcock learned about the fair from Emma Jackson, a counselor in the Career and Professional Development Center. Stops at the Crime Victims’ Center of Fayette County and Excela Health were beneficial.
“I’m looking for interpersonal communications and really liked the one-on-one basis with people at this fair,” he said. “This has worked well for me.”
Many alumni not only represented employers at booths but also returned to their alma mater to check out new possibilities.
Dylan Carson ´17, who spoke to U.S. Steel and Advanced Acoustics Concepts about networking IT jobs.
“I thought things went well, and these are a couple of leads I would not have had otherwise,” Carson said.
Rhonda Gifford, director of the Career and Professional Development Center, said this year’s fair had its most employers ever and attributed the success to Handshake, a comprehensive online career and internship resource offering powerful search tools and alerts.
Handshake allows students to build their personal profiles to be visible to employers and also access job recommendations based on their major and interests.
“We had at least 10 new employers, and Handshake has absolutely enhanced our fair,” Gifford said. “This tool has significantly increased our campus exposure to employers, and we are very pleased.”
The Career and Professional Development Center offers services for students and alumni in the Natali Student Union, Suite 138. Resume reviews are offered 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. weekdays. Students also may contact the center for career goal appointments or information on upcoming job fairs; call 724-938-4413.