Career and Internship Fair Comes to Kean
By Zoe Strozewski | Published by October 24, 2018
The Career and Internship Fair for Business, Government, and Technology will be taking place on Nov. 8 from 3 to 6 p.m. in Downs Hall. This event is already scheduled to host representatives from 65 companies and more are expected to register, according to Career Coordinator Blanca Rosales-Ahn from Career Development and Advancement.
The fair is being organized by Career Development and Advancement, the Office of International Studies, and the Office of Internships and Cooperative Education. While this school has hosted many similar fairs in the past, this is the first time these offices have all collaborated in the organization of the event.
Career Development and Advancement, currently located in the Center for Academic Success (CAS) 201, has a mission of preparing students to obtain and succeed in careers after graduation. They offer a variety of services to students, such as mock interviews, resume critiques and interview preparation.
In anticipation for this upcoming fair, members of this office have been making themselves as available as possible to students by offering clinics and workshops in order to ready them for what the fair will entail.
“Right now we’re offering all kinds of times, and we’re actually offering priority to the students that are attending the fair to make sure that they’re well-prepared because not only are they representing themselves, but they’re representing our institution,” Rosales-Ahn said.
Rosales-Ahn said that the many company appearances were obtained through working relationships the school has built with them, as well as contacts through faculty and efforts to reach out from both sides.
“We’re very excited because we have a lot of great companies coming on board,” Rosales-Ahn said.
As the name of the event implies, this particular fair and companies that will be present are primarily geared towards students from majors related to business, government, and technology. Career Development and Advancement hosts two major career fairs per semester, so the next fair that will be intended for all majors is being planned for the upcoming spring semester.
However, despite the fact that this fair is structured more for business, government, and technology majors, many of the companies have positions available for other majors that they will be looking to fill at the fair.
Some of the companies scheduled to be present at the fair include the FBI, Geico, the Department of Homeland Security, NJ Transit and Verizon. Students can view the full list of companies that will be at the fair and which majors they’re looking to employ on collegecentral.com/kean. Pre-registration for this event, which is mandatory, can also be completed on this website.
When a student enters the fair, they’ll be asked to swipe in with their Kean ID to register and then will receive a list of companies in attendance. The list shows the company name, website, what positions they’re hiring, and what majors they are looking for.
Rosales-Ahn recommends that students dress professionally for the fair and come prepared to hand out resumes and answer questions, because what each company hopes to get out of the fair can differ. Some just collect information from candidates while others conduct mini-interviews and even award jobs and internships on site.
“We don’t tell the companies how to run their show, but certainly there are some that come in prepared to actually hire. In the past, we’ve actually been very successful. Some of the companies have hired on the spot, which is awesome,” Rosales-Ahn said.
The goals of this event are in line with a larger movement within Kean to give every student the opportunity to have an internship sometime during their college education.
“The president has a really huge initiative for internships because internships are very important and crucial to all students to get their foot in the door. We’re here to assist them and we’re actually hiring new people and new professionals to help us in this endeavor to make sure all students are able to at least do one or two internships during their time at Kean,” Rosales-Ahn said.
Rosales-Ahn believes this fair can be beneficial to any student, regardless of their current job status or goals.
“Even if you’re not looking for work right now, go out there and see what’s out there because these recruiters are here for you and it doesn’t cost a dime. It doesn’t hurt you in any shape, way or form.” Rosales-Ahn said.