Today: Mar 28, 2024

Southern participates in virtual career fair

Josh LaBellaGeneral Assignments Reporter

Southern Connecticut State University is one of many colleges around the state that took part in a virtual career fair.

Aimee Piccin, associate director of academic and career advising, said the event took place from Feb. 13 to Feb. 17. She said the event was being hosted by CT Exchange and Spothook, which is a recruitment platform used by companies in Connecticut.

“We were notified about this by Spothook and CT Exchange,” said Piccin. “Based on all the companies that were represented we thought it was a good opportunity for our students to get internships or full time experience.”

On their website, CT Exchange said it is a cloud-based recruiting platform connecting students interested in internship and job opportunities with hundreds of companies in Connecticut.

Piccin said Quinnipiac, Yale, Wesleyan, and Central Connecticut State University were just a few of the schools participating in the online career fair. She said when she heard about the event she knew she wanted Southern to be a part of it.

Piccin said she sees many businesses heading in the virtual direction anyway. She said students should utilize the career fair to make contacts with future employers and to work on their networking skills.

“You have Skype interviews and online meetings,” said Piccin, “it is a whole different ball game.”

Piccin said students have the ability to sign on and make a profile. From there, she said, you go through different job postings and have the opportunity to sign up for online interview time slots.

According to Piccin, there are many different businesses and organizations involved the fair. She said the Peace Corps, New York Life, MW Financial, and Hampford Research were just some of the many groups signed on to interview and recruit students from around the state.

Piccin said Career Services has hosted online career fairs before and she thinks it will become more common as time goes on. She said that she does believe face-to-face interviews are still an important part of networking.

“I do think there is a lot to be said for face-to-face in-person interaction that you get when you go to a career fair,” said Piccin, “I don’t think it a replacement for career fairs that we have on campus, it’s more of an addition.”

Piccin said because not all major have mandated internships, she believes it is important to give students opportunities to make contacts in business.

Piccin said Career Services will be notified in a couple of weeks with information about how many Southern Students signed up for the virtual career fair. She said she was not sure how many students had been signing up for interviews but that the time slots seemed to be going fast when she checked the website.

“I really won’t have any idea of how many of Southern’s Students signed up for the event until I am notified by Spothook,” said Piccin. “That could take a couple of weeks.”

Piccin said they had been sending out emails notifying students about the opportunity for a couple of weeks. She said they offered to set up mock interviews with any student who feels they need practice.

“I really hope as many students as possible take advantage of this virtual career fair,” said Piccin. “It is a really great way for them to get their foot in the door and work towards getting a career when they graduate.”

Latest from Blog

Don't Miss

Yale IT talks to students about job opportunities

Jackson LaMar — Reporter Representatives, some of which Southern alumni, came from

Annual SCSU Career Fair sees big turnout

Taylor Nicole Richards – News Writer This year’s Career Fair boasted 101 employers and