This past Tuesday, March 12, was not only my birthday but it was also the Rowan College of Communications and Creative Arts Job Fair. As a radio, television and film major with a minor in journalism, this seemed like the perfect opportunity, a great birthday present from the universe. I had to call out of my internship with Center City Film and Video to go to the fair, but that was no big deal.

Although I was very grateful for this event taking place, it dawned on me that this was probably the first time a job fair has ever been useful for me at Rowan. I am currently a senior in his final semester and will be graduating this May. To only be able to say that now, after four years at this university, seems a little wrong. Now, a job fair that’s specifically for my college SHOULD be the one that’s most useful for me, right? And don’t get me wrong, it was. I gave out about four copies of my resume to various companies, including the Philadelphia Eagles Organization, so now I’ve got multiple prospects in the works.

But let’s say this fair didn’t happen. Let’s say the first one of these was to happen next semester. I wouldn’t be there to take advantage. I’m rather lucky I was here long enough for it to happen now. This is when I realized that it’s likely that others are or were in the same situation as me.

At previous job fairs, it was really the same story every year with many of the same companies attending every time. I’d go just to see if there was anything at all that was up my ally, but most times it was centered around engineering, accounting or insurance. If you work within those fields, more power to you. The career fairs certainly are like a playground for you. This isn’t a shot at you, but from the perspective of someone outside of those fields, you can see the frustration.

Again, I’m very grateful for the fair this past Tuesday, but it wouldn’t have taken a lot for me to miss that chance if timing had been different. I very much hope and think that Rowan should hold more career fairs like this one, as in focusing on specific majors and fields so that everyone at Rowan gets the chance to network and find potential employers. All that would need to be done is to have multiple smaller fairs throughout the year in addition to the main career fair in the Rec Center (I make note of the size because the CCCA fair took up only half of the Student Center Ballroom). Most people at any fair seem to really click with a few companies in attendance rather than many, so each smaller fair likely wouldn’t need that many tables. The CCCA fair had maybe 15 tables total, which is not a lot compared to the main fair, yet I still made multiple great connections.

If more majors could have this kind of focus given to them, it would provide a lot more students with career opportunities rather than only some. At the end of the day, everyone’s gotta get a job.     

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