09/10/18
HAYS, Kan. – The Career and Internship Fair, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 12, in the Black and Gold Room of Fort Hays State University’s Memorial Union will cap off Making Your Mark, the university’s Career Readiness Week 2018.

More than 80 employers will be on campus for the fair, said Karen McCullough, director of Career Services. It will be one of the largest turnouts ever for employers at the fair, she said.

“This is a first-time collaborative effort among several offices to provide programs that will aid students in becoming career-ready and in searching for internships and jobs,” said McCullough.

Cassie Augustine Jones, named one of the top 25 Most Influential Young Professionals in Colorado, will be the keynote speaker at Tuesday’s Personal Branding Conference, 9 a.m. to noon in the Memorial Union’s Fort Hays Ballroom.

Several of the Personal Branding Conference sessions will be available to FHSU virtual students (and anyone else interested) via Facebook Live.

Mock interviews, from 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., will overlap the branding conference in the ballroom.

Tuesday ends with a networking reception in the Robbins Center’s Eagle Communications Hall.

“Making Your Mark is bringing together events and activities that have traditionally existed at other times during the semester,” McCullough said. “We’re combining them into one week now, before the career fair, so that students can spend a few days digging into professional development, practicing the skills and then using them at the career fair in front of employers.”

Wednesday, designated as Career and Internship Day, includes the the Career Readiness Conference from 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the Pioneer Room as well as the Career and Internship Fair and the Study Abroad Fair, which will be from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the union’s Sunset Lounge.

“We know that employers value students who have experience learning in and working with people from other countries and cultures,” said McCullough.

Handshake, the online platform FHSU recently launched to connect students and employers, has been useful in preparing for the career readiness week. All currently enrolled students have a Handshake account and simply need to activate it to access postings about internships, jobs, career-preparedness events (like Making Your Mark week) and other useful information.

The week began Sunday with the Tailored for Tigers open house. Tailored for Tigers is a professional clothing closet at the university, where students can check out professional clothing to use for internships, networking, interviews or other professional job opportunities. An etiquette dinner, was Monday night.