Imagine a world without teachers. Well, without training and events to connect students to future employers, that world could easily become a reality.
The Education Majors Fair is hosted each spring semester. Both regional and out-of-state school districts came to campus on Wednesday to recruit students in full-time career opportunities.
The goal of last week’s Education Majors Fair was to fix this, prepare students for career development and present their resumes to future employers, “because you never know, the employers may have time to sit them down and get to know them a little more.”
And LaShawn Smith, coordinator for Career Connections, believes the event did just that.
“I think the fair turned out great. When you look at the all majors fair in the fall, there are so many students that come in. And in the spring, it’s usually very quick because students are trying to gather as much information as possible from the employers. With the Education Majors Fair, I really loved that they [the employers] requested to sit down one-on-one,” Smith said.
Recent English graduate Rachel Quimby always gets nervous before interviews and was scared of being overwhelmed with the idea of mini-interviews.
“I’d be concerned if I wasn’t antsy, as this is a pretty defining moment for my future. However, after going in, I was immediately calmed by how nice and welcoming everyone was.”
But Quimby, like others, ended the fair feeling confident. “After it was all said and done, I felt like I had met with people who were serious about providing job opportunities for future graduates such as myself,” Quimby said.
Some majors the event advertised for were social work, biology, English, mathematics, history, world languages, kinesiology, music, psychology, chemistry and art.
Contrary to popular belief, the fair is open to any major or alumni that wish to teach in their degree.
This year, the fair had recruiters from North and South Louisiana in addition to new districts from Mississippi, Arkansas and Texas, according to Roslynn Pogue, the director of Career Connections.
“These recruiters are just looking for students who are willing to teach,” Pogue said.
Quimby said it’s hard to condense what she learned into two things, but the most important were “Talk to everyone at the fair because you never know where the best opportunities are or where life will take you.”
“Have 20 or more copies of your resume to hand out. There are a lot of opportunities at this fair, and they all want something to remember you by,” Quimby said.