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Career expo goes on in spite of slow economy
by Chris Wenstrom
Assistant News Editor
FILE PHOTO
Employers present job opportunities for prospective workers on the floor of the Field House.
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Calvin hosted a career expo Wednesday from 2:30-6:30 p.m. in the Field house for students contemplating government or human service employment.
The career expo was sponsored by the West Michigan Collegiate Career Services, Aquinas, Calvin, Cornerstone, Grand Valley and Hope.
“It was a consortium between all of the colleges and the West Michigan Collegiate Career services," Dana Hebreard, career counselor, said. "All colleges had a part in organizing what we see here today.”
“Calvin is simply hosting it this year.”
Hebreard was the coordinator of the career expo for Calvin.
As students entered the Field house, they registered in the lobby, receiving a name tag and information on the employers present. Among the information was a blue packet that listed all the employers at the expo. After completing registration students were allowed to wander the floor of the gym that was filled with the employers.
Employers ranged from Camp Tall Turf, Cherry Street Health Services and Grand Rapids Children’s Museum to the FBI, United States Postal Service Inspections as well as the Secret Service.
“I am a business major and I came here looking for jobs related to my field of interest, but seeing the Secret Service, a job I hadn’t considered, made me interested in a totally different direction,” senior Brad Kirker said.
When asked about what kind of vocation he was looking for, freshman Matt Wiersma said, “I am looking for anything besides painting. There is a lot of different jobs here, a lot of social and criminal justice options like the FBI. There’s also a lot of volunteer programs.”
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Kolin Goncalves answers questions for an inquiring student. Goncalves spent 4 years teaching in China.
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When asked about how the expo was organized, Hebreard said, “All the separate colleges brought in different employers. We [Calvin] had to organize the site as well as bring in surrounding employers. This wasn’t an easy task with the economy the way that it is all of our job fair numbers have been down. It took a lot of work on our part to call employers and say, ‘You were here in the past and we’d love to have you back, please come,’ then coordinating this event with the event planning office here at Calvin. In total, it required about three months of full planing.”
“The wide range of jobs offered here brought new ideas we hadn’t considered before. There are beginning positions like coaching little kids football and other volunteer programs,” sophomore Steve Engbers said.
Among the employers was the China Teachers Program. Kolin Goncalves, a Calvin graduate, was the presenter at this organization’s booth.
“We have had eight serious students stop by and out of those I have picked three possible candidates for our program,” Goncalves said.
“The turnout has been great we’ve had over 50 employers, which is a great number. We have had 175 students with another two hours to go,” Hebreard said. “Students have come from Calvin, Western, Cornerstone and Aquinas.”
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