By Kayla Lafi
Staff Writer
"TCNJ Career & Internship Fair (Spring 2017)" (Lions Television)
Students dressed in business casual attire arrived at the Student Recreation Center on Wednesday, Feb. 22, with their résumés in-hand for the College’s biannual Spring Career and Internship Fair. The fair attracted students looking for summer internships, full-time positions and networking opportunities.
The Spring Career and Internship Fair brings together company representatives and students to network in an informal setting. The Career Center started preparing and planning the event after the Fall Spring Career and Internship Fair.
“It’s geared towards everyone that is either looking for an internship or a full-time opportunity,” said Debra Klokis, associate director of the Career Center. “It is for all majors, as well. Freshmen can really get the lay of the land and start building connections. For sophomores, companies are looking for them for internships.”
The day before the event, the Career Center prompted students to download the Career Fair App, which allowed students to filter companies by major or position and shows an interactive map of the fair. At the beginning of each semester, the Career Center hosts two workshops called “Prepare for the Fair,” during which students can learn tips on how to engage with employers and representatives at the table.
“Every student should get connected with the Career Center early through LionsLink workshops and open hours,” Klokis said. “A lot of employers here today have an active posting on LionsLink, and that’s a great way to do some follow up after the fair.”
The Career Center is open every day of the week except Wednesdays. During these hours, students can come in and ask for résumé help, career advice and interview tips. In addition, the Career Center offers LionsLink workshops to help students navigate the College’s online employer-student database.
“I would say the Career Center was pretty on target on how to prepare for this and with the résumé, they kind of clean it up a lot more than where I had it,” said Bill Wells, a sophomore finance major. “It resulted in a more articulate résumé and general advice (that) was useful.”
Among the many companies present, Target enjoys coming back to the College because they “feel that TCNJ offers good students and we can see as good leaders for the future. At Target we are looking for diverse, different kinds of people from different backgrounds and majors to kind of take us to the next level,” said Jon Case, Target’s executive team leader of logistics.
As students navigated the fair while networking with different companies, alumni represented their respective companies. Engineering alumnus Matt Morgan (’14) represented Ferguson Enterprises at the both seasonal fairs.
“We were asked to come back, and you can’t really pass up an opportunity like that,” Morgan said. “One, to see some familiar faces and two, to let kids know that I am with Ferguson Enterprises and let them know what we are all about.”
The fair allows students face-to-face interaction with companies. It also introduces new opportunities to students outside of an online job posting.
“I am a sophomore, so I’m looking to see if I can get an internship over the summer hopefully,” said Erika Hausheer, a sophomore finance major. “I wanted to find out more about the companies and hopefully get an internship. This is my first time at the career fair. I like it. There are definitely a lot of good companies here.”
