Miami University hosted its Spring Career and Internship Fair Wednesday, welcoming more than 250 employers to Millett Hall for students to network in order to build connections, secure interviews and ultimately end up with internships or full-time jobs.
With companies in all sorts of industries from all around the country represented, a few local companies attended the event as well as a part of their recruiting efforts. Groups such as the Oxford Police, Miami Athletics, Miami Graduate School, Great Miami YMCA and Butler County Visitors Bureau set up their booths next to businesses from farther away.
Though Miami Career Services billed the event as open to students of all majors and career interests, Miami junior and engineering major Conor Moore said the fair seemed geared toward business students.
“It is frustrating a little bit,” Moore said. “I would go to an engineering company, and they would be looking for marketers, not actual engineers.”
Past experiences did not stop Moore from trying his luck at the event, though only two companies were there that fit his career vision of working in construction, a far cry from the dozens of companies available for students looking to get a sales-related entry-level position or internship.
“I was kind of limited,” Moore said. “I was going in expecting it to be a limited number.”
Though the parking lot at Millett Hall was nearly full, Moore, who attended the fall career fair, thought the spring event had a slightly lower turnout compared to the fall installment of the event.
Still, lines were long, specifically for popular employers such as E&J Gallo, a winery with a competitive sales program, and McDonald’s, as students waited for their chance to give a 30-second pitch on why their resume should make its way to the top of the stack.
For younger students with less professional experience, career fairs can be a bit of a scare as they start to move toward adulthood, but for older students like Moore, time has a way of teaching how to navigate conversations.
“I think it can be intimidating at first,” Moore said. “I remember the first time I went it was pretty daunting.”
With the big event over, companies hosted follow-up interviews in Millett Hall Thursday as students tried to build off of Wednesday connections.
