The University of Rhode Island’s Harrington School of Communication and Media hosted a career fair in the Higgins Welcome Center on Tuesday, March 5, allowing students to network with professionals and explore career opportunities.
14 organizations were in attendance including WPRI 12, IHeartMedia and International Game Technology to engage with the University’s students.
“I think these career fairs are helpful for all years,” Jason Phillips said. “It’s very clear for seniors and juniors looking for full-time positions, but it’s also beneficial to be networking with professionals there. So even if you don’t have the opportunities to apply for an internship there or look for a job, you are still building a professional network.”
Jason Phillips is a Harrington administrative staff member at the University who was involved with organizing this event via student outreach.
Many students graduating this spring were distributing their resumes to companies and looking for job opportunities.
“I am getting close to graduating and I feel like when I saw the career fair I knew it was the perfect way to get my name out there,” fourth-year student Athena Wisenburger said.
Leah Crowley is a URI alum who was in attendance as a member of WPRI. She had gotten an internship at WPRI before she graduated and landed a job with the station right after graduation.
“I love coming back and telling kids what my experience was like and advice and hope more people from URI can join us and learn,” Crowley said.
Crowley explained that the students who come off as most professional can be described as, “Someone who is engaged. Anyone who’s really interested and genuinely wants to learn more.”
This event was a collaboration with the Center for Career and Experiential Education. Their goal is to support student success through engagement in high quality personal and professional experiences, according to their University website. Their outreach for students includes individualized meetings, meeting with students within their classes and helping students find jobs during college and after graduation using Handshake.
Molly Williams is a career education specialist, who contributed help and outreach for students in preparation for this event. She’s also a member of the Center for Career and Experiential Education. She and her organization help with resume writing, elevator pitches and answer any questions students may have.
“I did a lot of classroom outreach,” Williams said. “I was very grateful that so many Harrington faculty invited me in and gave time in their classes to talk about internships, job search and preparing for the career fair.”
Williams went to about 20 classes within the Harrington School this semester to inform and educate about the career fair and more broadly about career opportunities and resources.
“Even if you don’t want to work for any company there or are not looking for an internship now, you are starting a relationship,” Williams said. “You’re looking into what it takes to get a job in broadcast journalism or print media or in sales. You are kind of looking for what these recruiters are looking for.”
Following this event on Wednesday at 11 a.m., the Spring Career Expo will take place at the Ryan Center to encompass job opportunities from all fields of study at the University. To register for this event or to ask any questions about career goals, students can go to the Center of Career & Experiential Education webpage on URI’s website.