Job Fair Offered to Meet Students’ Needs

Career Services hosted its first part-time job and internship fair on Sept. 26. Created to accommodate students who cannot work full-time or need community service hours, 25 companies offered various opportunities on the Heath Lawn.

For several years, Vanguard has had job and internship fairs to give students chances to get connected with local companies. Past job and internship fairs have taken place in the springtime but did not offer many options for part-time jobs. 

Among the opportunities offered, nonprofits, preschools, city involvement, behavioral therapy, fast food restaurants, churches, banks, golf companies, homeware businesses, tutoring, and insurance companies were in attendance. 

Jennifer Smith, Associate Director of Career Services, and Julie Johnson, Career Services Coordinator, organize past and upcoming events with the students in mind. The department has worked to coordinate this event since early summer, according to Smith.

“We want to meet the students’ needs right away,” Smith said. 

Freshman Austin Tubbs was hired at Chick-fil-A with the help of the job fair. According to Tubbs, he only visited the fair for five minutes and only interacted with the place he was hired.

“I would recommend it [the fair] if someone was looking for a part-time job,” Tubbs said.

Smith works with Handshake, where she partners with companies on it. Through the program, Smith reached out to companies who she felt would be a good fit for the needs of students. 

“The companies revisit the job fair specifically to recruit Vanguard students,” Smith said. 

According to Smith, the Career Services team has observed students over the years and felt that by introducing the part-time job internship fair strategically in the fall, those who needed jobs during the school year or needed to fulfill the required community service hours could find opportunities.

Laura Depin, Assistant Director of Scheduling Events, and the Event Relations Team coordinated with Career Services to make the event possible. Members of the Global Education Outreach Department (GEO) also attended the fair to inform students of community service opportunities.