Josh Barta
jbarta@uwyo.edu
College is the stepping-stone from childhood to adulthood for the American youth. We choose our majors and study our fields with the hopes of eventually landing a job in that field. But for most of us, college might not quite feel like real life yet.
The University of Wyoming will be holding its Spring job fair this Tuesday and Wednesday. Both events will be happening at the new Rochelle Gateway Center on Grand and 22nd Street.
“We encourage students to dress appropriately, as if they are going to a job interview,” Jo Chytka, director of advising and career services, said.
Chytka specializes in helping students graduating and getting jobs in their desired fields.
“It is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, companies to come to students,” Chytka said. “I really encourage students to show up, especially for business majors.”
The job fair will go from 1-5 p.m. on both days. Tuesday will focus on students in business, government and agriculture majors, while including job prospects for those who are looking to go into non-profit work.
Forty-five companies will be at the job fair on Tuesday to look for future employees, including Farmers Insurance, Forward Wyoming and the Peace Corps. Students looking to get a jump on getting employed may stop by at UW’s career services center and pick up brochures that lists the businesses’ that will be there on Tuesday.
“One of the things we encourage from the companies at the job fair is that they need to be hiring and talk to students about their hiring process,” Chytka said. “Some of the companies will be conducting interviews days after the job fair.”
Wednesday will be for students in science, technology, engineering and mathematics–STEM for short. There will also be 52 different companies, including the U.S. Engineering Company, Handel Information Technologies and EchoStar Corporation.
“For the STEM job fair we will actually be rolling out a new app that students can use to see a map of what companies will be there and where they are,” Chytka said. “It is a free app that students can find in the app store on their phones.”
Both days of the career fair will include companies that have come in years past.
“We have companies that just have such good track records with our talent that they come back every year,” Chytka said. “Though it goes with the economy. Obviously we are not going to have as many energy companies there because not all of them are hiring at the moment.”
Students may find the opportunity to work for a company in a field different from their respective major. Not all companies are looking specifically for employees in specific majors, but students with desirable skills.
“One of the things where we have seen a huge hike in demand for are people who can manage social media,” Chytka said. “So if you can manage a Twitter or a Facebook for a company, your major may not matter to a company because that is a skillset they are looking for.”
The University of Wyoming holds multiple job fairs throughout the year so students can still take advantage of the opportunity to land a job.
