From Meijer to Lazorpoint to Joann Fabrics, representatives from 132 companies interacted with more than 1,000 students and alumni at the Spring Internship, Co-op and Career Fair on Thursday.

The fair took place on the basketball courts in the Student Recreation and Wellness Center from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Attendance was large and employers were generally impressed with students they met.

“Overall I am very impressed with the way everybody is dressed and everybody came prepared,” said Thomas Heun, talent acquisition & employment specialist at River Reborn.

River Reborn is a project by the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District. The company is currently looking to employ students in the sciences. River Reborn has an employee in its Human Resource department who started as an intern from Kent State.  

“There have been a few that have stopped by that will be excellent candidates, Heun said.

The Career Closet provided space with racks of professional clothing for students. Those who came to the fair unprepared could take outfits of their choice before meeting a company representative.

Students also had the opportunity to have a free professional headshot taken for their LinkedIn profiles at the fair.

Harman Tam is a senior consultant at Lazorpoint, an IT company. Lazorpoint has been sending representatives to the fair for several years. Many of the students hired as interns by the company have had experience working with on-campus Tech Help, Tam said. Lazorpoint has two interns and in the past has hired students from Kent State.

“We actually have someone from Kent State who has been with the company for 13 years,” Tam said.

Liz Gerbus, a campus recruiter for Tata Consultancy Services said she thinks the fair was well organized and students were prepared. This was the first Kent State career fair attended by the company, Gerbus said.

Gerbus said she was curious about major-based career fairs. She believes such a fair will be an opportunity to get more traffic.

Students who were unable to attend the fair can still visit the CED office and check the Handshake app and website for internship and job opportunities. The Fall Internship, Co-op and Career Fair is scheduled for Sep. 25, 2019.

Margaret Baah covers jobs and money. Contact her at [email protected].