Rescheduled career fair set for March 10th – Archive
Written by Crow's Nest Staff, Mar 7, 2011, 0 Comments
Taylor Gaudens
Contributing Writer
The Career Center will hold its spring career fair on March 10. It was rescheduled from its original February date so it could be a bigger event.
The event was rescheduled due to low employer enrollment. Many companies reduced their recruiting funding when the economy worsened, sending out less recruiters and only sending them to larger college campuses. For USF St. Petersburg that meant a low amount of employers, so rescheduling was the best option, according to Barbara Oliver, assistant director of the Career Center.
Oliver and her staff plan career fairs a semester in advance. They look at the academic calendar and schedule employers early.
“We want to make it worthwhile for the employers and the students,” Oliver said. She said the event might be better later in the semester because there is less employer competition with the USF Tampa campus.
Many students have challenging course schedules each semester, working a part-time or full-time job to support tuition costs. In current economic climate, many students try to gain experience where they can while they are in school to enhance their education.
Oliver understands students’ financial and educational pressures. But when it comes to getting a job upon graduation, she says that students are “so focused on now [and] have to look at the bigger picture earlier on.”
The career fair is not an easy way out, but a tool to help students get a job or an internship.
Oliver said that 15 years ago, when a student earned a bachelor’s degree, they got a job. But that isn’t the case today.
Oliver said that students aren’t as prepared to enter the job market immediately upon graduating.
“It requires time and effort,” she said.
Oliver and her staff are passionate about helping students. She said the Career Center has the resources for landing a job, but students need to put in the effort.
Oliver said it is important to know how the job process works because it gives students interviewing practice, an opportunity to establish contacts, gain connections or get an internship.
The career fair will offer opportunities for students of all levels, including freshmen, sophomores and those with undeclared majors. The career fair is free to students and alumni. Visit the Career Center’s website for information on the career fair, an updated list of employers and how to prepare for the fair at www.stpt.usf.edu/career.
