GREENEVILLE — Tusculum University students took the next step in their career development by visiting with potential employers and graduate schools during a fair Tuesday, Oct. 20, on campus.
About 40 companies and organizations spread throughout the top floor of the Meen Center and spoke with the students as they went from table to table. Students were eyeing possible options for full-time jobs and internships or opportunities to pursue their master’s degree or attend a professional school.
“This productive event for our students not only enabled them to seek jobs but also demonstrate their ability to interact with others in a professional setting,” said Kathy Hipps, coordinator of career services and director of the Thomas J. Garland Library at Tusculum. “We are grateful for all of the businesses and companies that spent time speaking with our students and appreciate the students for taking advantage of this opportunity to take their career ambitions to the next level. We look forward to seeing where our students land.”
Viewpoint from the students
Sarah Mathis, a junior seeking bachelor’s degrees in business administration and biology, is exploring the idea of obtaining a master’s degree in public health. At the moment, though, she is looking strongly at the business fields of financial advising and financial planning and seeing where that takes her. She is looking for an internship in the summer that could potentially lead to something long-term.
“I wanted to come to really strengthen my interview skills, network and really look at the different businesses to find out if they’re looking for internships and to learn what they stand for – their missions and what they have to offer,” Mathis said. “The event made me feel more confident discussing things in a more professional manner and being in a professional environment. It was extremely beneficial, and I’m very thankful that Tusculum puts on these things.”
Fellow junior Layne Bailey, who is pursuing an economics degree with a minor in mathematics, is also looking for an internship. She came to the Graduate School and Career Fair because she wanted to build connections and meet representatives of businesses and organizations in East Tennessee. Her dream job is to work in corporate finance.
“I’m looking for something to set me up for the corporate programs and then hopefully finance or economics for an internship,” Bailey said. “They had some really good people here today. I felt like all of the different companies were really engaged with the students. There were three or four that really stood out to me that I think I’m going to follow up with for maybe an internship for next summer.”
Bailey also said her classes at Tusculum are helpful in preparing her for her career. She said the courses are specific to what she will need to succeed in the workforce.
Gavin Roux, who is pursuing a Master of Business Administration, said his goal is to find work in accounting or finance, such as becoming a certified public accountant or helping people with wealth management or financial planning.
He came to the fair to examine the different options that are available, network with businesses and examine whether internships would be possible. He is interested in finding a company where he could intern and then possibly slide into a full-time job. Five or six companies at the fair were particularly appealing to him, and he plans to reach out to them further.
Another person who came to the event was Grizelda Martinez, who is a freshman in the business administration program. She was seeking information on becoming a paralegal and wanted to speak with a company that performs audits. An older student who holds a job and an internship, she is focused on finding an internship in the business field. She felt as if she received what she needed from the fair.
Justin Williams, a junior working toward a bachelor’s in computer science, was also focused on looking into internships. He wanted to learn what businesses would want from him and what would make his application stand out. Organizations with which he spoke were the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Tennessee Highway Patrol.
“I definitely got a different perspective,” Williams said. “It was definitely good to get out of my comfort zone and find out information about different companies that I could possibly help out.
As she prepares to graduate in May, senior Jordyn Kwalwasser is examining how her life will look after completing her bachelor’s degree in environmental science. She is interested in pursuing a master’s degree in wildlife biology so she can conduct wildlife research.
“All of the vendors were very helpful, which was nice,” Kwalwasser said. “There were a couple of schools that did have a program for furthering my academics. It was cool to talk to them about graduate school and the application process because I am starting that right now.”
She is open as well to following other avenues, such as an internship, finding a full-time job or taking her career in a different direction. She was able to provide her information to some companies, who encouraged her to reach out to them for a job. She said she talked to many professionals about their jobs and what that could mean for her.
