By Stephanie Cohen
Recruiters and other representatives from 74 companies met one-on-one with UA students during the General Interest and Business and the Technical and Engineering Career Fairs, which occurred on Oct. 5. and 8th, respectively. Typically, these career fairs take place in Coleman Coliseum each fall; however, the University decided to hold them virtually this year to comply with social distancing and other safety guidelines in place. All in all, thousands of Culverhouse students and recruiters from 167 companies participated in the fairs.
Linda Johnson, director of employer development and relations at Culverhouse and one of the facilitators of the career fair at the college-level, was pleased by the virtual turn-out. “This a year like no other and we were just a bit nervous by how our students would respond to a virtual career fair format.”
“We’re glad to see that our students signed-up and participated, with an overwhelming majority having productive conversations with recruiters. In fact, our students scheduled over 4,774 meetings with company recruiters.”
The Career Center at Culverhouse organized the fair through the CareerFairPlus app, which had a page dedicated to listing all of the companies participating, along with positions they are hiring for in the near future, if not currently. Students would register for the fair through this app, create a profile and be free to book 10-minute meetings with the companies of their choosing. Meeting times were available from 1-5 p.m., and several companies had multiple representatives meeting with students to maximize their reach among them. The CareerFairPlus app streamlined the sign-up process, only allowing students to set up a meeting with a recruiter if their classifications, graduation years majors matched the preferences of that specific company.
David Whitson of participating company Insight Global emphasized the importance of continuing to conduct career fairs, even in a virtual setting. “It is important to realize that companies are always looking for new talent–even in the current environment,” he explained.