Brittany CowanNorth Carolina Central University’s Career and Professional Development Center held its Part-Time Job Fair on Aug. 29 in the Alfonso Elder Student Union.
Cierra Wilson, NCCU’s Career and Professional Development Center Career Development coordinator, led the part-time employer relations for this event and other events similar to it.
According to Wilson, her goal for the Part-Time Job Fair was to provide a diverse mix of employers with various functions from different industries. Wilson added that the event would help students gain “experience and transferable skills.”
“The Part-Time Job Fair is a great way for students to supplement their income, in addition to gaining experience and transferable skills that will be attractive to future employers after graduation,” Wilson said.
The Part-Time Job Fair included a variety of on and off-campus companies to recruit NCCU students as part-time employees.
Some of the companies that were recruiting at the Part-Time Job Fair included Zaxby’s, Walgreens, NCCU Eagle Dining, and NCCU Information Technology Services.
“Employers are able to strengthen their employer branding on-campus, engage with emerging talent, and can save time on recruiting by linking with a wide range of students,” Wilson said regarding the impact that the Part-Time Job Fair would have on employers.
Hire Scene, one of the companies that were recruiting at the event, is an online staffing website and mobile app that simplifies how job seekers and employers connect.
According to Hire Scene’s Raleigh Operations Manager Chelsea Lucas, Hire Scene primarily focuses on connecting job seekers to employment within the industries of hospitality and event planning and helps employees create schedules that work for them.
“The nice thing about us is that we actually let students create their own schedules,” Lucas said. “They get notified when different gigs are available, and if it fits their schedule, they can accept it, if it doesn’t, they can ignore it.”
According to Lucas, it is important for Hire Scene and other companies seeking part-time student employees to be considerate and flexible with scheduling.
Wilson implored students to look for employment opportunities that fit into their class schedules.
According to Wilson, she spoke to several students and pulled analytics from Handshake to identify the most sought after positions and pursued employers that would be right at the event.
Handshake is a website and mobile device app utilized by over 700 university career centers across the United States that allow students and alumni to register for career-related events and apply for jobs and internships.
More than 150 NCCU students registered on Handshake for the Part-Time Job Fair, one of which being NCCU junior Essence Edwards.
“I looked onto Handshake to make sure that I could see what type of jobs would be at the event and what the employers were looking for,” Edwards said. “This helped me register and be better prepared for the job fair.”
Edwards added that having a job in college will help her earn money for certain opportunities that may come her way in the future.
“I really enjoyed the Part-Time Job Fair and I believe that it opened up a lot of doors for me and students who have different interests,” Edwards said.
The Part-Time Job Fair was the first of many events that will be hosted by the Career & Professional Development Center this academic year.
According to Wilson, the Career & Professional Development Center will host a Career Minute Clinic, Business and IT Career Fair, and a Graduate School Fair in the months to come.
Wilson emphasized that the content and energy of the events this year will be the same, but the Career & Professional Development Center will more effective in advertising and increasing their market reach to students.
“We have a lot of awesome events and fairs to get students career-ready for life,” Wilson concluded.
