On Tuesday, October 3, students and their potential future employers swarmed onto the Andreasen Center’s basketball courts for four hours of networking fun. Students who wanted to impress dressed up for the occasion, which was an exciting start to the on-campus business couture season. Students brought their resumes, companies handed out business cards, and there were enough tri-fold brochures present to create a to-scale paper mache blue whale. And everything had the lovely backdrop of corporate gray carpet, corporate fluorescent lights, and corporate thin tablecloths.
The first things one noticed upon walking into the gym that Tuesday were, of course, the stars of the show: the booths. Rehab booths; medical booths; a paint booth; booths for both natural and unnatural foods; more rehab and medical booths (and more, and more…). Yes. There were booths from lots of Southwest Michigan/Indiana businesses at the fair, offering a broad range of work environments, visions, and potential job opportunities. But a variety of other companies also set up shop in the gym, many of which were niche enough that students might not have heard about them any other way. Eagle Village is a rehab center and summer camp for kids that have gone through trauma, and it has an incredible indoor ropes course. EnFocus is a non-profit with a service that connects students with 30-plus internships in the area and also has various internships of its own. And CHT (Chemische Fabrik Tübingen) produces silicon for massive companies, and is expanding their chemical manufacturing business.
Students from all walks of life across the university appreciated the opportunity that the career fair brought to flesh out their prospective careers. Enzo Bacchiocchi (freshman, finance), said that he was “very interested in learning more about finance, specifically in the medical field, specifically at AdventHealth.” His favorite booth was AdventHealth’s because they told him “two different sides” of what he “could be doing,” and gave him a “day-to-day aspect of it.” Moraya Truman (sophomore, digital communication), said she enjoyed the Sherwin Williams booth because “they were up front about what all happened there, and about their benefits, which included dental and therapy.”
Even if students were uninterested in anything the companies at the career fair had to offer, it was a unique and interesting opportunity to get to know some of the local businesses here in the Michiana area, and some of the people who run those businesses. And for the students who were interested in what the fair had to offer, summer internships or even post-graduation jobs may lie in store. As the now-iconic title of Porter Gale’s books says, “Your Network Is Your Net Worth” If the title, which has become a popular saying, is true, Andrews students had a great chance to boost their net worth last week. Because of its catering to students interested and uninterested in securing future jobs and internships, the Andrews University Career Fair offered something for everyone, and was, therefore, a smashing success.
The Student Movement is the official student newspaper of Andrews University. Opinions expressed in the Student Movement are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors, Andrews University or the Seventh-day Adventist church.