By Alex Bradshaw
Like many University of Louisville students, Brad Asher attended his first career fair last Wednesday. Asher, a Civil Engineering major at U of L, was optimistic about the opportunity to meet prospective employers.
“Even if a booth doesn’t have a position for you due to lack of credentials, they will still take time out and talk to you,” he said, adding that he enjoyed the intimacy level of being able to speak directly with employers. “Even if I don’t come away with a job, it is still good practice for job interviews.”
The career fair, held Oct. 19 in the Student Activities Center, offered students a chance to look for positions after graduation and gave employers a chance to recruit soon-to-be college graduates.
Greg Doshod, an employer for ABF Freight Systems, said career fairs are a win-win situation for employers. “When you have a large room filled with bodies looking for employment, it’s going to be hard to walk away without an addition to the company,” Doshod said.
But not everyone feels the career fair was a success. Darrell Messer, president of the Speed School Student Council, said the career fair acts more like an unprofessional “job fair” than an actual career fair. Messer said that career fairs at U of L focus too much on part-time jobs for students planning on working through college. He thinks the career fair should focus on professional full-time positions for juniors and seniors who will soon graduate.
“Kohl’s, for example, looking for seasonal help for the holiday rush would not be appropriate at a career fair,” he said.
Messer has been one of the most outspoken critics of the career fairs. He sent a letter asking for changes and voicing his concerns to Denise Gifford, the former vice president of Student Affairs, but her response wasn’t what Messer expected. “[Gifford] only offered a brief note saying, ‘Thank you for sharing your thoughts, Darrell,'” Messer said.
Debra Mayberry, assistant director of Campus Life, said Messer did get a response from her, just not the one he wanted.
“I explained to him that there are job fairs at U of L which primarily focus on part-time work, and there are career fairs at U of L which focus on full-time, professional jobs and internships,” she said.
“[Messer] thought that the booths should be listed according to students’ majors. The career fair intentionally arranges the booths in alphabetical order so that they aren’t competing with each other side by side.”
Another possible drawback for ambitious U of L students seeking employment is that anyone can walk in off the street. No one checks the identity of students.
Bill Ray, an employer at Jewish Hospital, said he only takes resumes into consideration. “If a guy comes to me that isn’t a student that has more qualifications, he’s going to get the job,” Ray said. “That’s only a problem for the students.”
Messer said he envisions a career fair that includes 200 or more companies offering full-time positions, but Mayberry said that’s not feasible with the fair at its current location.
“The multipurpose room in the SAC has only proven to hold 79 booths,” she said.
A career fair is held each semester. The spring career fair will be April 6, 2006.
