California Baptist University hosted its annual Spring Expo career fair online Feb. 17, with 60 employers from a wide range of career opportunities for students of any major in attendance.
There was a wide selection of employers in attendance from many fields, from the FBI to ChildCare Careers, from churches and groups looking for people to help spread God’s word, such as Saddleback Church and Frontiers, plus healthcare employers such as Silverado who specializes in caring for those with Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia, and many more.
Heidi Jackson, recruiting supervisor at Silverado, said students can find job opportunities with their company even if they did not expect their field to cross over with it.
“I have talked to people who are art therapy majors, psychology majors, business administration and public health,” Jackson said. “That’s the beauty with us; there are so many fields and disciplines that can filter into the long-term care industry, but really to be successful in it, you just have to have that heart and that love.”
Lisa Birle, intern program minister for Saddleback Church, said one of the benefits to the fair being online is knowing people are in that
session specifically for that company.
“I think one thing is that people who you connect with at the fair (online), they have to sign up in advance to get a slot with you, so you know those people have intentionally sought out to hear more about your organization,” Birle said. “I feel there is a level of intentionality to that. I want to honor their time and be able to share about our church with them, and I know they are specifically interested in Saddleback.”
Wendy Torres, freshman communication science and disorders major, said she went the three sessions, one for Saddleback Church, one for the Red Cross, and one for ChildCare Careers and found something that interested her.
“I found the ChildCare Careers one interesting,” Torres said. “I expressed interest and I got a code for an application to apply.”
Lisa Singer, associate director of employer relations at CBU, said they have had to cut back on the number of employers at the fair to keep it organized online, but they still have a wide selection available.
“The Spring Expo as with all of the fairs that we have has transferred from being live to virtual. Normally we have about 110 employers. For the virtual, we can’t do as many, but we had 60 different employers attend virtually.”
Singer said she thinks Handshake, the company they used for the expo and their other events, has been very accommodating.
“I think the software system that we use has been outstanding,” Singer said. “They have accommodated the students, the employers and the universities. Most universities throughout the nation use Handshake, and they’ve done a great job pivoting from the in-person fair to the virtual.”
Students interested in the remaining fairs can attend the Education Fair March 3, the first annual Architectural Fair March 4 and the Healthcare Fair April 7.
