About half-way through this year’s Career Exploration Fair, as hundreds of students interacted with dozens of companies lining the floor of the Frisco Campus Conference Center, four students and a facilitator gathered around a “campfire” of painted cardboard to discuss skills that will help them be successful in the workplace.
[ngg src=”galleries” ids=”47″ display=”basic_thumbnail”]Career Coach John Hines presented a primer on “soft skills” like good interpersonal communication, ways to work as a teammate, self-confidence and others. At the same time, Larry Seedig, vice chairman of the board of USAA Savings Bank, discussed leadership at a campfire session about 60 feet away. The pair had begun their sessions after presentations by Associate Dean Andrea Szlachtowski and Collin College student Haley Fink on dressing for interview success and tips for a first interview.
The campfire sessions have been a staple of the Career Exploration Fair since the its inception and are emblematic of the approach the event takes to offering students skills they can take into the career of their choice. This year’s headlining speakers, Nickquolette Barrett and Dean Lindsay, continued the skill-building focus with presentations on using LinkedIn effectively and achieving personal goals before and after the job fair.
The fair itself drew 45 companies and eight universities, which discussed career planning and job opportunities with more than 300 students in attendance.
One of those students, Randolph Wang, came dressed in a suit and was looking to make connections with potential employers after learning about the event from Career Coach Jana Nixon.
“I thought it would be a good opportunity to network and connect with different companies,” Wang said, adding that he was pursuing a career in IT.
Wang, who brought a friend with him from The University of Texas at Dallas, said he was also interested in getting a free professional headshot, which was offered for people to use in their LinkedIn profiles.
One of the company representatives that Wang spoke to was Dwane Ballard, the chief technology officer of Pegasus Technology Solutions. Ballard said he was glad to be at the fair because the types of training done at Collin College fill his company’s needs.
“I’ve gotten some great résumés,” he said. “We will definitely continue doing this because, as our business grows, this (fair) will be a great resource for us to add talent.”
The Career Exploration Fair will be held again in the fall of 2019. Look for more information on the fair in the coming months.