Exploring Opportunities at the IFT Career Fair
by Kelly Frederick
Upon entering the IFT Career Fair, held Saturday, July 17, at McCormick Place in Chicago, two things were immediately obvious. First, the aisles were even more crowded with people waiting to speak to company representatives than in previous years. Secondly, most of the lines consisted of students who were still in school and looking for internships or who had recently graduated and were eager to enter the job market. Among those working his way down the line of companies in attendance was Reid Lilly who, having just graduated from Mississippi State University, was eager to explore the options available to him at the Career Fair. In fact, before the Fair even began, Lilly had lined up a handful of interviews with companies during the show, and he expressed his excitement after meeting with Nestlé and hopefully securing yet another interview. “In this economic situation, it’s great to have IFT to help set up interviews,” said Lilly.
Meanwhile, students like Tomomi Fujimara, who is studying for her master’s degree at Oregon State University, were there not to find a job, but to check it out for future reference. “I am going to be studying for my Ph.D., but I know that I will be doing this in the next couple of years so I wanted to see what it is like,” said Fujimara. Her friend, Kristen Mcalpine, also from Oregon State University, was there to see if there were any job openings in Tennessee. Although she wasn’t having very much luck, she seemed optimistic. “It seems like there are a lot of job postings out there,” she said.
One of the companies with the longest lines of interested job candidates was Mars Chocolate North America, which was looking to fill a long list of positions for their different brands throughout the United States. Erin Hiller, a college senior who is interning with Bush Brothers & Co. this summer, was excited after meeting with the representative from Mars. “Confectionery is my passion,” said Hiller, who enthusiastically moved on to the next line to speak with someone from Nestlé. In addition to Mars and Nestlé, 14 other companies including Pepsico/Frito Lay, Schreiber Cheese, and Leprino Foods had booths at the Career Fair. Like many of the companies, this was not the first year attending the Career Fair for CQC Clasen Quality Coatings. Representative Heidi Meier explained that it has been successful for the company in the past and it is just an excellent way to “meet a lot of great quality people.” There was definitely a lot of networking going on at the Fair, and hopefully, for many, the opportunities will lead to new jobs.