Career Fair frustrates communication majors
By Mike Caputo
To her dismay, when she arrived at the Career Fair, held in the Cavalla Room on Thursday, Nov. 2, it was the same old story — many opportunities, but mostly for those in accounting and finance.
“In the past, there wasn’t much for communication majors, so I went today and it was the exact same situation,” said Markowitz. “I understand it’s difficult to get a diversity of employers, but it always seems like there is so much more for accounting and finance majors.”
According to an E-mail sent by Career Services at 5 p.m., on Wednesday evening, about 13 companies were recruiting journalism majors, including The Asbury Park Press and JerseyIntern.com.
The Asbury Park Press, which caught the eye of many communication and journalism students, did not show up because of “unanticipated circumstances,” said Claire Hamm, associate director of Career Services.
Sophomore Marie Baker, was excited to see The Asbury Park Press on the E-mail sent by Career Services.
However, according to a pamphlet given out to prospective employees, efforts by journalism students like Baker to find an opportunity with The Asbury Park Press may have been fruitless anyway — the open positions were for advertising, sales and graphic artists.
“I woke up early to get myself ready and look presentable,” said Baker. “I got here, and there was one thing for communication students and they weren’t even here. I spent a bunch of time typing up a resume and printing it out. I think I’m just going to leave my resume on that table.”
According to Hamm, Career Services sent thousands of letters to employers, but not many media organizations responded. She said that Career Services plans on working harder to cater to the needs of more students.
“In the future, we will continue to encourage a greater variety of employers to attend
in order to meet the needs of all majors,” said Hamm.
Business students, such as junior Steve Richardson, an enterprise and leadership major, said there was a “great variety” at the Career Fair.
“I believe it was a really resourceful event to have on campus and it is definitely something that should be on a college campus.”
Richardson said he made good strides toward finding an internship. He focused on
Target because he said he already works for one of its stores.
Some of the other major companies and governmental organizations that attended the Career Fair included Merrill Lynch, Johnson & Johnson and the FBI.
— Additional Reporting by Jamie Papapetros, Lauren Varga and Jess Decina
