Saint Mary’s will welcome employers from various fields to meet with students and discuss professional life after their time at Saint Mary’s during its career fair Wednesday. The fair is part of Future Fest, a multi-day event that concludes with the career fair Wednesday from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. in Haggar College Center.
Stacie Jeffirs, director of the Career Crossings Office at Saint Mary’s, said Future Fest is a helpful resource not only for students, but also for employers. She said career fairs are valuable because of the accessibility it grants students and employers to interact with one another.
Jeffirs said the Career Crossings Office is excited for students to explore job and internship opportunities at Future Fest.
“Career fairs are a great way to network and connect, both from the student's and employer's perspective,” she said.
Because the career fair is the first taste of the professional world for many students, Saint Mary’s hopes to encourage students to make connections that will help guide their career decisions in the future, Jeffirs said. She added that Future Fest is a valuable opportunity for students to interact with working professionals and practice skills they can use in interviews down the road.
“The purpose of the event is to connect students with employers for internship, job and other post-grad opportunities," Jeffirs said.
Professionals from various fields will attend the fair.
”Students will have the opportunity to connect with employers from a variety of industries and build connections with recruiters that will help them in applying to roles and landing interviews,” she said.
Over 30 employers will attend the career fair, ranging from major international firms to service-oriented organizations. Jeffirs listed some notable companies that will be in attendance.
“We have Eli Lilly, KPMG International, Orr Fellowship, NFA (National Futures Association), ACE Teaching Fellows, Great Hearts Academies and more will be attending the career fair,” Jeffirs said.
Due to the pandemic, Saint Mary’s has not hosted a full, in-person career fair since 2019. Because of this, Jeffirs said there may be anxiety among the student body about talking to people in the professional world.
“We have hosted in-person career fairs in the past, but this is our first one since COVID. It's a traditional career fair in the sense that we'll have employer booths and students will engage with employers, exchange resumes and contact information, etc. However, we want to emphasize that career fairs are not scary,” Jeffirs said.
Saint Mary’s is also participating in a virtual career fair hosted with 10 other all-women’s colleges and universities.
“We also host an all-women's colleges and universities virtual career fair that will be held on Oct. 3 from 3-6 p.m. on Handshake,” Jeffirs said. “We collaborate with 10 institutions for this fair and will have over 85 employers that participate.”
