Education students had the opportunity to visit the education network career fair coordinated by the Career Management Center last week in the Clark Student Center.

The Career Management Center staff members put together the event with the goal being to help students work toward their future careers.

“We help students get ready for life after Midwestern. So we help with resumes, cover letters, and their job searches,” Stephanie Sullivan, assistant director for the Career Management Center, said. “We hope students get connected with school districts and that they’ll walk away with a job.”

The education career fair allowed school district officials to meet with students and market their districts, and it gave future educators a chance to speak with superintendents regarding future internship and full-time job opportunities.

“For us as students teachers, I think it’s more nerve-racking because we’re getting that much closer to that point of getting a real full time job. So it’s nerve-racking, but it’s also exciting to see all of these people are looking for people to come work for them and that could be us,” Keelie Ralston, education senior, said.

Students also gave their thoughts on how they felt regarding future job opportunities following the career fair.

“I guess with our certification we have to do more than what we were expecting. It’s a little discouraging honestly, because there’s so many people that are here that are looking for jobs as well, so it’s like we’re competing for places,” Ralston said.

Brandy Villasana, kinesiology senior, said, “It’s hard to market yourself, I guess, with our certification in physical education. I mean, everyone wants that job from what I heard from everyone. So knowing that we also need to get certified in math, English, science, or something else, that was a little discouraging. But it’s nice to get some experience talking to a bunch of superintendents that are here.”

Although the career fair was intended to assist education students, it was open to all students and faculty for free.

“It’s specifically for education majors, but it’s also for any person that just wants to learn more about working in a school district,” Sullivan said.

Sullivan said the fair was also for students and faculty to speak with officials from nearby school districts.

“We sent out invitations to the school districts that have come in the past, as well as new school districts that students have expressed interest in. We send invitations out to them, they go through the process of registration, and we also go out and visit different classrooms and send information out to students to encourage student attendance,” Sullivan said.

What was your impression on the career fair?

Gabrielle Rodriguez, early childhood education senior | “The job fair was impressive for what I’ve seen here lately. There are way more employers than I expected.”

Kaytlyn Boyett, all level art education senior | ”[The fair] is very busy but it’s also organized.”

Julia Lucas, early childhood education senior | “It was overwhelming but in a good way.”

Emilie Harris, 4-8 general education senior | “I would say that it’s very informational – find out there’s way more schools than I thought were hiring.”

Additional reporting by: Taylor Anderson