On September 26th, Langston University will hold its annual fall career fair in the C.F. Gayles Field House from 10am to 2pm. Students can meet with recruiters from different companies and get exposure to work opportunities. Ally Wright, Director of Career and Professional Development, works to make sure the career fair is successful, with help from her six current work study students.
“I love the fall career fair more than anything, because we always get the most students and the most employers,” says Brooke Blakely, a junior nursing major. She is a work study student with the career and professional development office.
The first step when planning a career fair is to secure a date. The director and academic affairs go through the athletics and event calendars to make sure the gym is free for tarping. Then, they use the college career platform Handshake for employer outreach and invite accessible companies that students request to speak with. They must be sure to not clash with any career fairs being hosted at nearby universities.
“You don’t want to have your career fair on the same day as OSU, because OSU is a larger student turnout…they’re going to go where there’s more bang…,” said Wright.
After employer registration, they start renting tables and chairs for booths, catering, and formulating seating plans. They follow a specific seating arrangement based on the highest payment in the Employer Partnership Program.
“If they’re a distinguished employer, so if they pay miss Ally money… we make sure that they’re, like our big board, so like MedPro, Paycom, Tinker. They’re like, in the front, they’re who you’re gonna see.”
The team said the hardest part of the career fair is formulating traffic flow between both gyms. They struggle with getting students to travel to both rooms.
“It’s hard because they’re not directly next to each other, so traffic flow is tough to keep students interested, to go here, and then you got to swing them back around to the multi.”
Another struggle is trying to figure out ways to gather companies that cater to obscure majors. With the wide range of career paths, she finds that some students’ career goals don’t align within a career fair. Some companies cannot afford to pay for recruiters to go to the event.
“I can make a reach out to the company and do that kind of bridge. So maybe they don’t come to the career fair, but I can still bridge a gap for you to be able to talk to them… if you’re not seeing who you’re looking for, come and talk to me and we’ll figure out,” Wright said.
An employment recruiter at the career fair, Angelia “Angie” Lee, Executive Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at Richardson Independent School District, is looking forward to attending. She expressed excitement about coming back to her alma mater to hire potential educators.
“Our little Langston group started coming back and presenting to the students, and that’s really when we built this passion to continue to give back and to make sure that we were on the list, to actually come to the job fairs and to start recruiting at Langston.”
Her favorite part of the career fair is the connection she makes with students. As an education recruiter, she is willing to talk to all types of students, regardless of major. However, she still wishes Langston had more major-specific fairs.
“I wish it was more so focused on education majors, you know, who were coming, because you would actually get more districts there as well, with the intention of recruiting… I would love to see the more teacher specific job fair versus a general job fair.”
When recruiting, she looks for students who are dynamic, passionate, and determined to work in her field. She wants students to start conversations, ask questions and engage with the different tables at the fair.
“I see students come in without a plan of how to go about navigating the career fair…don’t just come in and walk around, but stop at the tables, even if you see an organization and … you have no clue what that company does, stop and inquire.”
Her biggest tips for students who are seeking jobs are to wear professional business casual clothing, perfect their resume using the Clifton Strengths assessment and resume workshops and to sell yourself as a working professional with your values, accomplishments and goals.
Students can get free professional clothing via the career closet, located in Page Hall Room 314 Monday through Friday from 9am-5pm.
“Even if you needed, like, clothes, we have a whole closet that’s free with professional clothes, and then for students to come and get and then they can keep them for life,” said Blakely.
Students who are interested in learning more about career opportunities can email ally.wright@langston.edu for more information.
Ciera Agee
Ciera Agee is a junior broadcast journalism major.
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