The Business Career Fair on Friday was aimed at helping students in the C.T. Bauer College of Business gain experience in their fields.
This year’s Business Career Fair featured 141 companies.
Courtesy Photo
“We’re focused on business (majors) specifically,” said Brett Hobby, director of employer services and recruitment for the Rockwell Career Center. “The importance is to attract businesses relevant to Bauer students. When we survey them (the companies), they say their interest is in business majors, not even business minors.”
The business career fair was open to current business students or Bauer alumni. The Rockwell Center puts out two fairs every year – one at the end of February and one at the end of September.
Supply chain management junior Alvaro Rodriguez said he attended the fair to get a better sense of the businesses out there interested in recruiting recent graduates.
“It (the fair) is a great way to expose students to the companies and potential employers,” he said. “I’m a junior, so I still have a year left, but I like to know my options and research about them before I actually look for jobs.”
Experience isn’t an issue in this type of recruiting.
“In cases when experience is necessary, you recruit in a different way,” said Sherri Farmer, marketing and recruiting director for Pattillo, Brown and Hill, L.L.P. “The person-to-person interaction in these fairs is a great advantage.”
Other employers agree that the immediate interaction with potential candidates is why they come to campus to recruit.
“Basically, we want to get to people before anyone else does,” said Christi Champ, consultant at Digitex. “Besides, we like to hire recent graduates before they grab the bad habits.”
Branch sales, manager at OTIS Frank Smith, agrees.
“Experience is something that’s important, but we have a great training program where recent hires can cultivate good habits,” he said.
Having a huge number of candidates in one consolidating area is also an advantage, Smith added, as it’s “way better than just looking through resumes.”
This semester’s business fair had 141 companies – the largest number the fair has ever seen. Prestigious employers such as Hershey’s and Kellogg’s were present.
“This shows that the effort and the progression that UH has made and Bauer has made throughout the years are paying off,” Hobby said.
