Career Fair held at Northwest

STEVE HARTMAN/DAILY FORUM
Prospective employers and employees network during the Northwest Career Fair, which began at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday at Lamkin Activity Center. More than 120 prospective employers and 40-plus schools had booths providing information to prospective employees.

More than 120 potential employers and 40 school districts from Missouri and adjoining states were represented at the Northwest Career Fair and Education Expo, Tuesday at the Lamkin Activity Center on the Northwest Missouri Stat University campus.

The Career Fair was in session from 10:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. while the Education Expo took place from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.

“We decided to hold the Career Fair and Education Expo together because in the spring, both events are a little smaller,” Northwest Career Services graduate assistant Ariana Watson said. “This way, everything is in one place, under one roof.”

The Career Service motto is “Bringing Talent and Opportunity Together,” and this becomes the primary focus of both the Career Fair and the Education Expo. Both events allowed prospective employers to meet potential employees face-to-face, answer questions, and network.

The United States Marine Corp Officer’s Program has been represented for many years at the Career Fair, and Gunnery Sgt. Ty Ryan explained the benefits of meeting those who may be interested in the program.

“The big emphasis here at the Career Fair is to meet candidates and gauge their interest in our program,” Ryan said. “We give them some basic information, and if they remain interested, we stay in contact with them.

“Plus, it allows us to put a face with a name and get to know prospective candidates, which is a good thing.”

Ashley Burnett, a senior business management major from Platte County, said she also looks forward to the contacts she can make at the Career Fair.

“I can find out more information about firms that I’ve already applied to,” Burnett said. “Plus, at an event of this size, I will likely find a company or two I hadn’t considered that may be a good fit for me.”

Burnett has a strategy in place when she meets with representatives from each business she has an interest in.

“I ask a lot of questions, and I make sure to ask if they’ve received my application,” Burnett said. “If possible, I want them to make the connection between my application, my resume and myself.”

Rosalie Weathermon, Northwest’s Career Development Coordinator of Internships, said that while there are new businesses represented each year at the Career Fair, there are groups, such as Cerner and Hy-Vee, for example, that have been represented for years at the Career Fair, and have developed a positive, on-going relationship with the Career Fair.

“They’ve found great employees here at the Career Fair in the past, and they come back year after year,” she said.