News

800 ATTEND CAREER FAIR

By Wes Clement/OF THE COMMERCIAL STAFF
Wednesday, October 7, 2009 11:33 PM CDT

College students in Pine Bluff had an opportunity Wednesday to talk to representatives of more than 60 agencies seeking new hires.

Shannon Cummings signs a question for Karen Kizer to communicate with the job recruiter Wednesday afternoon during the UAPB/SEARK Career Fair held at UAPB. Pine Bluff Commercial/Ralph Fitzgerald

Southeast Arkansas College and the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff worked together to organize a career fair held at UAPB. About 800 students attended.

“The career fair at UAPB is always awesome and I’m always so impressed we have freshmen, sophomores, juniors, seniors and alumni coming back,” Allison Nicholas, an Acxiom recruiter, said. “It makes my job so much fun because I can influence the new students to think about what they need to be taking, and we have people who are looking for a job today who could fill a job today at Acxiom.”

Charles Arnold and Darnell Thomas, both UAPB sophomore business management students, talked to Nicholas about career opportunities.

Arnold said he feels good about opportunities ahead.

“I don’t worry about it. It is what it is. It is what you make of it,” he said.

Arnold and Thomas said they thought the career fair was helpful.

Karla Harper, SEARK vice-president of student affairs and coordinator of career services, said 695 UAPB students and 105 SEARK students attended the fair.

Representatives from more than 15 school districts seeking teachers were present. Two signs at the Shelby School District booth displayed the starting salaries within the district in bold red letters.

“You come in at $39,468 with a bachelor’s degree and $42,669 at the master’s degree level,” said Eddie Jones, Shelby Schools’ human resources recruitment specialist.

Jeremy Cegers, a UAPB student who is student-teaching in the White Hall School District, said he is optimistic about opportunities.

“The job market is pretty lucrative,” said Cegers, who is seeking a math teaching job. “We have a lot of opportunities here.”

“I would love to stay in Jefferson County,” he said. “I was born and raised here. I want to help where I’m from.”

Trooper Trois Maloney of Missouri State Highway Patrol said the criminal justice program at UAPB and local demographics attracted the organization to the event.

Bruce McCrackin, Arkansas Forestry Commission outreach technician, said some students are attracted to the commission for opportunities to work in “green jobs.”

The commission employs many accounting, administrative and support employees in addition to its outdoor workers.

“We encourage all students to participate,” Mary Jones of UAPB career services said. “At the freshman level they are exploring career opportunities and at the sophomore level they are looking for internships. There are many organizations here today that offer those opportunities.”

SEARK and UAPB have partnered to organize fall and spring career fairs for about five years.

Representatives from several schools and other organizations were present, including: