About 90 employers seek recruits at Southeast career fair

Graphic design majors Krista Francis and Calla Harris didn't find jobs directly related to their field, but they came across some niches they could fit into at Southeast Missouri State University's Career and Internship Fair on Thursday.

"Since this is my final semester, [I've] been really kind of looking for an internship program that I can get into, or possibly a job," Harris, a 24-year-old senior, said. "But right now, we're just kind of scoping out," looking around and gathering business cards to see who had potential job openings or internships.

Marcus Segal, a 23-year-old senior from Imperial, Mo., who's majoring in criminal justice, has attended other career fairs and was making the rounds Thursday. The fairs give him a chance to network with law enforcement; he wants to be in the FBI and investigate homicides.

"I know it's really hard to get into, but I've got to start somewhere, so I might as well start in some police department in the state of Missouri ... or across the nation," Segal said.

The event, held at the Student Recreation Center-North, mainly was aimed at juniors, seniors and graduate students. It attracted 90 employers such as school districts, social services, agriculture companies, Starbucks and the Peace Corps.

An earlier event, the Kickstarter Networking Reception on Wednesday, was attended by 22 employers, Michele Tapp, director of academic advising and career services, said in an email to the Southeast Missourian.

Next year's goal is 125 employers, and Tapp hopes the fair will outgrow the rec center, as it did with last year's site, the University Center. One of the tools aimed at bringing in more firms and agencies this year was REDConnect, an employment database launched in October that allowed fair organizers to advertise it to employers sooner and contact firms they might not normally reach with traditional methods, Tapp said.

"We launched REDConnect in October, and as soon as it was launched, we were able to start promoting the career fair and we had people registering over Christmas," she said. Another advantage was other career fairs and specialized events, such as Criminal Justice Day, occurred about the same time so employers could attend multiple fairs.

Michele Bottila and Barb Sandell, assistant accounting managers in shared accounting services at the Archdiocese of St. Louis, attended the fair Thursday, looking for accountants.

"We have a regional accounting office in Perryville, Mo., and our accountant who works there actually is a graduate of Southeast. Perfect 4.0; she couldn't be any more wonderful," Sandell said. "We were looking for an intern for her," so they contacted Joyce Hunter, coordinator, outreach and events, to help them.

"She got us familiar with REDConnect and told us about upcoming fair," Sandell said. The archdiocese has about 200 parishes, and of those, 80 are in the shared accounting program "and it's growing," she said.

The last step in the fair was getting a professional photo taken by the Student Photography Association to post on LinkedIn.

"I think it's vital," Hunter said. "LinkedIn is their professional image, and I think it makes a huge difference."

rcampbell@semissourian.com

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