Job-seeking University of Wyoming students have the opportunity to make connections and explore career opportunities at a series of career fairs happening this week in the Union.
The BIG Career Fair, or general fair, is taking place 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. today in the Yellowstone Ballroom. More than 70 employers will be present seeking to fill a wide variety of positions. The Engineering and Technology Fair was held Tuesday.
Students are encouraged to come prepared with resumes and to dress professionally, and can have free headshots taken in Union room 202 from noon to 2 p.m. today.
Recruiting and Event Coordinator Tami Browning of the UW Advising, Career and Exploratory Studies office (ACES) said the fairs offer students the best opportunity so far to make productive, personal contacts with companies on the lookout for new hires at UW.
“We have record numbers of employers for the spring job fairs,” Browning said. “This is a great way for employers and students to meet face-to-face.”
While some students may be disappointed that positions suited to their major are not advertised by employers, Browning emphasized that career fairs aren’t just for students’ benefit. Employers need talented individuals and fairs can give savvy students the chance to seek out employers. Students can make a sales pitch for their own value that could prompt employers to consider where they could make some room, Browning said, or at least make a lasting impression.
“There might be a major like anthropology that you’re not really going to see a lot of people here actually actively recruiting for, but students with that major probably have some jobs, some internships, they have a skillset that they’re wanting to sell to employers,” Browning said.
Students who don’t make it to the career fairs can still find numerous opportunities to connect with employers and find jobs through UW’s branch of the Handshake networking system, which all UW students have automatic access to. Browning said the ACES office approves “over a hundred jobs every day” from employers marketing positions directly to UW students, and keeps the listings narrowed to those relevant to students who have a degree but are short of actual professional experience.
“If students don’t see an employer here that they’re interested in, if they go look in the Handshake system and query for that employer they might find jobs listed in there,” Browning said. “Handshake is a great resource.”
Even if getting a real grown-up job may seem further away on the horizon for students of lower class standings, Browning said the fairs can still yield value in the form of summer jobs, internships and a widened perspective on existing opportunities and career paths.
The fairs are also important occasions for employers themselves, Browning said. Companies must pay $400 to register for a spot, and they continue to show up for UW fairs from semester to semester.
One of the more consistent and visible employers to appear at career fairs is also among the most diverse — the U.S. Army. Students may be wary of the structure of Army life and of finding themselves in mortal peril, but Staff Sergeant Robert Lorek of the Laramie recruiting office said the vast majority of positions are non-combat support roles.
Their listings for the career fair welcome all majors for a range of positions in engineering, medical, communications, and more. For stateside positions such as Lorek’s, the work/life balance is much like any other, he said.
“Once I go home at the end of the day, my uniform comes off, my civilian clothes go on, I go do what I want to do — go to the movies with my family, go to the park, go shooting, go ride snowmobiles,” Lorek said.
A full list of employers appearing at the career fairs can be found on the ACES office’s UW page, ranging from trucking transportation companies to banks to the Sheridan YMCA and even the Peace Corps.
Following up on this month’s job fairs, this year’s UW Teacher Fair will be open for teacher candidates from March 13-14 at the Gateway Center.
