By Esther Hoffman, junior

For the second year in a row, Friends and Newman universities are hosting a joint career fair on March 25.

The career fair will be in the McKay Gymnasium in Casado Campus Center from 3:30 to 4 p.m.

Amy Dible, director of career services, said that the two schools joined up last year to consolidate resources and keep expenses down. 

“We recruited a lot of the same employers and exhibitors,” Dible said.

Participating employers at the fair include:
 Aflac
 Big Brothers Big Sisters
 Camp Wood YMCA
 City of Wichita
 COMCARE of Sedgwick County
 Edward Jones
 Farmers Insurance
 Koch Industries Inc.
 T-Mobile
 Wichita Habitat for Humanity

“The employers really liked having it combined,” Dible said. “They felt like they talked to quality applicants.”

Last year’s fair, which was held at the Newman campus, had 72 participating employers and around 150-175 students. This year, 31 employers have signed up so far, and Dible is sure that more will sign up before the career fair.

Dible encouraged students to prepare so that they would get the best experience out of the career fair.

She emphasized that students should practice interviewing.

“That one minute or two minutes is going to make or break whether the employers will talk to you further.”

Practice could definitely help students like freshman business major Caleb Cook, who hopes to get on-the-spot interviews at the career fair.

“Interviewers are trained to be perceptive, so I would expect that they would be able to discern that I am intelligent and a quick learner,” Cook said.

He’s confident about his interviewing strength but not as confident about his resume.

“I’m planning on attending a workshop to help build my resume,” he said.

Both campuses’ career services departments are hosting workshops leading up to the career fair. These are 3 p.m. today at Newman and 7 p.m. March 22 at Friends.

Dible said that it’s better for students to start networking for future jobs early so that employers will recognize them.

“Oftentimes students think, ‘Oh I’ll go to the career fair when I’m getting ready to graduate,’ which is a great time to go, but it’s actually better to start going your freshman or sophomore year,” Dible said.

Cook said he will focus less on networking for now, and more on attaining a job.

“I’m just hoping to get a job that I would be able to maintain throughout the next few years of college.”

To find out more information about the career fair or to set up an appointment with career services, call 316-295-5832 or visit the website at www.friends.edu/career-fair.