Rhiannon Saegert/reporter
Job seekers and job providers gathered in the South Campus Student Center Nov. 5, hoping to connect with one another during the campus’ Holiday Hiring Fair.
The cafeteria was full of hopeful applicants along with representatives from 42 businesses and organizations.
“It’s a great turnout,” said career center coordinator Monica Miranda, who, with senior office assistant Sherry Boyd, organized the event.
To prepare students, Miranda and Boyd held three seminars teaching students how to dress for success, write résumés and approach possible employers.
“Our goal is to prepare students for the world of work through the seminars we held and then give them the opportunity to find employment,” Miranda said.
Bryan Tate, a recruiter for Arthur Murray Dance Studio, was “looking for instructors and also anyone who wants to come dance.”
He called the fair “a well-organized event. I think there’s definitely a lot of potential here.”
Steven Allen, an employment specialist for UT-Arlington’s human resources department, said the students who spoke to him were friendly and showed interest, but some weren’t dressed properly for a job fair.
“It’s a pretty even mix,” he said. “Some students are dressed for success, a good portion, but some just aren’t. They just need some guidance.”
Miranda said some don’t realize how important appearance can be, “I think that, for a lot of our students, they think it’s OK to come out and not really dress the part because they’re college students,” she said. “We’ve thought about having pre-registration, but we’re not at a point where we can yet.”
Energy company Tecomax/Reliant joined the job fair after Brianda Payan, a TCC student and employee, told her supervisors about the event. Standard Parking Corporation was also there, holding on-the-spot interviews to fill 25 positions.
Plato’s Closet, a used clothing chain, was also present. Store owner Mandy Calvin said she had a good reason to come to a college hiring fair.
“Our demographic is college students transitioning into the workforce,” Calvin said.
Calvin’s team was taking applications, not only for Plato’s Closet, but also for its sister chain, Clothes Mentor, which caters to women roughly 24 and older.
“I just heard about this job fair last week,” student Adriana Stephens said. “Everybody explained and answered all of your questions. I would come back if they had another one.”
She’ll have a chance. Another job fair is scheduled on South Campus for April 3.
