On your mark, get set, recruit!
Every year as we move into the spring semester there are a few events we know we can count on — virtual classes due to snow or ice, New Year’s resolutions that fall by the wayside and students worried about finding jobs and internships before the summer hits. That’s where the Strategic Communication Career Fair comes in, helping students prepare for the race ahead.
The 2022 Strategic Communication Career Fair connected 51 recruiters from across the United States with more than 100 junior and senior Strategic Communication students. This year’s career fair was held virtually on Career Fair Plus, similar to the 2021 fair. “Before the semester started, we spoke to recruiters about their thoughts on a virtual career fair,” says Jamie Flink, supervisor for the Career Fair and professor at the Missouri School of Journalism. “We wanted everyone to feel comfortable and not prohibit students or recruiters from attending due to travel restrictions.”
Flink worked tirelessly with a MOJO Ad team of public relations account managers — Landon Brickey, Kieran Malloy, Jasmine Pierce, Amanda Watcher — as well as graphic designer Julia Igel to put on the event. This year’s theme was NASCAR.
“We came up with the NASCAR theme because we thought it would be very visually appealing and engaging,” said Malloy. “We also felt that NASCAR races paralleled the college experience.”
Before the fair, the team hosted two workshops to help students prepare, the “Resume and Portfolio Tune Up” and the “Alumni 500.” During these events, students were able to speak to alumni and hear about their experiences to gain valuable advice about the hiring process.
“(The workshops) were my favorite part of setting up the career fair,” said Malloy. “It was a much more interactive setting and we could really see how all of our hard work was benefitting our peers.”
After months of hard work, the fair finally arrived on Jan. 27. Recruiters from companies such as FleishmanHillard, Ketchum and Momentum Worldwide met with students about the positions and programs they had available.
“Recruiters come to the fair with the promise that the students they meet will be ready for their first day on the job,” said Flink. “Our students have an excellent reputation and are known for their work ethic and skills.”
For the student attendees, the event gave them a chance to gain some experience with interviewing as well as try to nail down a position for the summer and beyond.
“The most valuable part of the career fair was getting the opportunity to speak one-on-one with different recruiters from a wide variety of companies,” said Strategic Communication student Madison Ripson. “It prepared me for graduation by helping me feel more confident in my work experience and comfortable talking about myself to future employees.”
Updated: February 24, 2022