Alumnus Zack Ihnat said at the most recent Marshall Career Fair on Wednesday, Sept. 25, that he secured a full-time job directly from the Career Fair. He now works as a design engineer for Kokosing Construction Company after attending it during his years as an undergrad. 

When discussing his journey to his current position, he talked about the benefits of the career fair and how he was offered his current job. 

“Knowing that I could come here and kind of take a step into the professional world for a little bit was exciting for me,” Ihnat said. “I came here, and I ended up talking to the area manager for Kokosing at the career fair, and I was like, ‘I can come work for this guy.’” 

Jennifer Brown, the coordinator of the career fair, used Ihnat’s experience at the career fair as an example of how the fair can help students progress in their careers. She said the goals of the career fair are for students to network, find internships or even receive full-time job offers. She also said that students are seeing these offers earlier than in previous years.

“Companies are extending offers before students even graduate in May,” Brown said.

She also discussed the distribution of companies, saying the three biggest areas are engineering, healthcare and business; however, some areas Brown said she would love to see more representation for are computer science and liberal arts. 

Shewent on to say, just because a company may say engineering or be a hospital, they still have positions for liberal arts or arts and media majors. She used this example to emphasize the importance for students to go around to every booth. 

Freshmen Evan Vangundy and Charles Dolin said at the career fair that they were looking to talk to an engineering company, try to get an internship or explore future career options. 

Cyrah Moore, an MBA student, and Cheyenne Chapman, a senior in social work, described their experiences at past career fairs. 

Moore said, “I’ve been to one previously, and I found an internship at it.” 

“I’d like to find an internship for the summer to help me transition into a career field,” Chapman said.

A Cintas Corporation representative at last year’s career fair said they recruited an intern who is returning to work for them again in December. Representatives from People’s Bank said they come to the career fair looking to recruit recent or upcoming college graduates for their professional development program, a one-year mentorship that allows individuals to get hands-on experience in the banking industry. For students who aren’t ready to graduate, they look to build a relationship with them and then connect with them down the road. 

Olivia Andrew-Vaughan can be contacted at [email protected].