The Education Career Fair will help students start up job searches
Marissa Bean
Editor-in-Chief
It’s never too early to start searching for a job, and education majors will have a chance to kickstart their job hunt in just a few weeks.
The annual Education Career Fair, hosted by Career Services, will take place on April 6 beginning at 4 p.m.
The event will begin with an Employer Panel Discussion in the Dana Mohler-Faria Science and Mathematics Center auditorium.
Mary Ann McKinnon, associate dean of the College of Education and Allied Studies, will moderate the panel. The four panelists are Robert Perkins, associate principal of Brockton High School; Lisa O’Keefe Trainor, human resources director of Franklin Public Schools; Celeste Hoeg, principal of Carolos Pacheco Elementary School in New Bedford; and Pamela Gould, assistant superintendent for human resources for Plymouth Public Schools.
The panel will discuss the interview process, characteristics that employers look for in potential hires, and professional expectations.
Following the panel, a networking fair will begin at 5:30 p.m. in the Rondileau Campus Center ballroom.
More than 60 school systems will be present to meet with education students. Additionally, several resume collections will take place for employers that were unable to take part in the fair.
Students participating in the networking fair do not need to register prior to the event. Only a student ID is needed for admission.
Blair Sylvia, a career counselor in Career Services who is planning the event, said that students should come to the networking fair prepared.
Sylvia recommends that students bring ten to fifteen copies of their resumes to give to employers.
Those who are unsure about their resume are encouraged to bring it to Career Services for review.
Students are also expected to dress professionally.
“I think our employers appreciate when our students go a little above and beyond,” Sylvia said.
Sylvia also recommends that students research employers before attending the event.
“We encourage students to research schools because we want students to know whose coming so that they can have a game plan going into the event,” Sylvia said. “We encourage students to look through the list ahead of time, research schools that they would be most interested in meeting with, and make the most of their time.”
A final preparation step is working on a short, 30-second introduction speech to give to employers.
“Students should know that they aren’t going to spending more than five minutes with each employer…you have to be very strategic about what you’re telling that person,” Sylvia said.
Career Services recently launched Interview Stream, an online platform where students can record themselves giving their brief introduction or practicing interview questions. Students can request feedback on their recording in order to perfect it.
Students are encouraged to gather business cards from employers while at the event.
This year’s event will be the largest Education Career Fair to date.
Most of the school districts that will be present are public schools, but there will also be a handful of private, charter, and religious-affiliated schools in attendance as well in addition to a few non-profit organizations.
Many of the school systems are local. The first school systems to be invited are from southeastern Massachusetts, and many return year after year.
Twenty school systems that were not present at the last fair will be in attendance this year, according to Sylvia.
The fair is generally targeted towards junior and senior education majors, but all grade levels are encouraged to attend. Additionally, the fair is open to graduate students the public.
Career Services also hosts the Job and Internship Fair, which will be held on April 14 in the Tinsley Center.
According to Sylvia, the Education Career Fair is separate from the larger Job and Internship Fair in order to target education students and encourage attendance.
The education programs at BSU are among the largest programs on campus, and the university also began as a teacher’s college.
Marissa Bean is the Editor-in-Chief for The Comment.
