Collegiate Career Fair helps students connect with employers

Hundreds of students attended the 13th annual Springfield Collegiate Career Fair, which was held at the University of Illinois Springfield on Thursday, February 17.

The fair is part of a partnership between UIS, Lincoln Land Community College, Robert Morris University and Benedictine University at Springfield. The schools pooled their resources to bring representatives from 88 employers to campus.

“We have the government sector, we have the private sector, we have a lot of retail for those growing positions that are in the local community,” said Tammy Craig, director of the UIS Career Development Center.

Senior UIS English major Kelly Pierce came to the fair looking for a job. She graduates in May and is still looking for the right opportunity.

“It’s just a way to find out more about jobs I don’t know about, because you can only search online so much, before you need help from actual people,” she said.

Beyond information about actual job openings, the fair was designed to provide an open information exchange about different organizations, hiring trends and the best routes to future opportunities.

For potential employers, the fair offers them a chance to meet one-on-one with job seekers and develop a pool of future candidates.

“When we have interviews we really only get to see their resume, so this is really nice to have face-to-face time,” said Niki Kersey, a representative from American Income Life Insurance and a senior Business Administration major at UIS.

For more information on career services visit the Career Development Center’s website or call 217/206-6508.