By Katherine Atchison
CCC Journalism Program
BLACKWOOD – Camden County College held its Spring Liberal Arts and Professional Studies Career Fair on April 9. Twenty organizations participated and nearly 300 students visited the fair.
A fair such as this one “helps build networking and builds social capital,” said Derena Shafer, director of career planning and advancement. “Most students wait far too long to begin thinking about this.”
Shafer added, “Recent graduates often experience a challenge with career entry because they lack experience.”
Among the organizations that attended were LiveNation, Avalon Police Department and New Jersey State Police.
“We see about 50 to 60 applicants from college career fairs and we hire about 20,” said Gary Smith, a representative of LiveNation. “This is just mainly a seasonal job so we reinterview every year.”
Smith said the perks of working with LiveNation are that they “hire internally and we are the global leader in entertainment.” He encouraged students to talk to many company representatives because if you “shake the right hands and meet the right people, you never know what doors will open for your career.”
Student Emily Moore said career fairs can be helpful. “I think it is very beneficial to have the fairs on campus because most times students don’t know about it until that day and they see the festival, so it’s great to see students going on campus that would’ve missed it if it were not on campus.”
A similar fair for math, science and health careers took place on April 11. An additional 20 organizations were present. An additional 300 students stopped by and spoke with the companies’ representatives.
To learn more about career planning and advancement, contact Derena Shafer at CareerPlanning@camdencc.edu.
