California Baptist University’s Career Center hosted the Spring Expo career fair Feb. 19, where 100 companies were represented and offered opportunities to students for at least 400 positions. The event occurs every February, and this career fair had opportunities for all majors.
Lisa Singer, employer relations specialist and event coordinator, said contrary to popular belief, the Spring Expo is not just for business majors.
“The Spring Expo is our largest fair that has almost every major represented,” Singer said. “(We have opportunities for) everything from business to behavioral sciences, criminal justice, engineering. At a career fair, your bandwidth opens because you can see so many companies you didn’t think were even on the spectrum of opportunities open to your major.”
Some of those companies included the Riverside County Department of Public and Social Services, the California Department of Human Resources, the American Red Cross, the Marine Corps, the City of Corona’s Parks, library and recreation departments, the Corona Police Department, Granite Construction and even the FBI.
Singer said that companies want to be introduced to good candidates for jobs or internships and that they trust CBU to provide them with this.
“Employers want to meet CBU students. They know our reputation; they know they are coming not only with a great experience and great education, but with an integrity level,” Singer said.
Students can get jobs from these events, as proven by Steven Stockman, a CBU alumnus who is a project engineer with Granite Construction. Granite Construction has been successful in recruiting CBU students at the Spring Expo over the past six years.
Stockman said many of his coworkers are also CBU
alumni.
“Everyone at this booth minus our human resources (employee) was from Cal Baptist,” Stockman said.
Luke Romano, senior film major, said he came to the Spring Expo despite his doubts that it would have opportunities for his major.
“It’s always best to try every opportunity to look for a job,” Romano said. “I was surprised Beyond Today’s Sports Institute had opportunities for film majors. They said they were talking about doing podcasts.”
Singer emphasized just how important follow-up is for students after they visit a
career fair.
“Meeting with the employers and following up, sending a thank-you card, sending your cover letter. We always tell our students that if you’re not doing it, your competition is, so you should always think one step ahead,” Singer said.
In addition to the Spring Expo, the Career Center also puts on other career fairs, with most having a particular focus on a specific major or range of majors.
Previous fairs have included the Business Fair and the Engineering Fair during the fall semester, as well as the Summer Ministry and Job Fair at the beginning of the spring
semester.
Upcoming career fairs for this semester include the Teacher Fair on March 11, Nursing Fair on April 2, and, lastly the Just In Time Fair on April 15.
