As part of its Career Fair for the fall semester, the Mississippi State University Career Center is sponsoring two career days this week for students interested in the Agriculture and Natural Resources field and the Graduate and Professional School.
Jan Fitzgerald, senior coordinator for full-time jobs, said the Franklin Center, the Agriculture and Natural Resources Information Day is open to any MSU student interested in applying for an internship or summer job, obtaining a co-op position or pursuing a full-time career.
Additionally, a few companies will promote current position offerings in engineering, business and veterinary medicine. Of the 20 companies in attendance, eight will be accepting resumés and inviting potential candidates to sign up for interviews to be conducted at the Career Center on Wednesday.
During the event, company representatives will meet with departmental professors from MSU, who will serve as future networking liaisons for their students by providing recommendations. The representatives will spend the remainder of the program the companies with the students and discussing possible career options.
Jan Fitzgerald, senior coordinator for full-time jobs at the Career Center, said the event can be significant for students in search of a career in these areas.
“Companies come for a specific reason: they seek our graduates because they like the quality of our students, so this is a great opportunity for students to establish networks with professionals in their intended field,” she said.
Even if there are no current job openings, it is still important for students to show an interest and make a good first impression on potential employers, who may hold onto their resumés for consideration when a position becomes available. In order for the program to be a success, Fitzgerald said everyone needs to be on board — students, professors, employers and those at the Career Center.
The second program the Career Center will feature is the Graduate and Professional School Information Day on Thursday from noon until 3 p.m. in the Foster Ballroom at Colvard Student Union. Representatives will provide students with information on programs in health, law, business and art-related fields, along with other general graduate programs.
The Health Professions Scholarship Panel, which is sponsored by the Career Center Alpha Epsilon Delta and the Northeast Mississippi Area Health Education Center, is the first event of the program on Wednesday. Presentations will be given on scholarship options available in Mississippi for students looking for a way to alleviate the costs for high-level programs from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
Cassandra Latimer, associate director for Career Consulting, is in charge of the program and said students will be able to learn about the forms of monetary assistance they can receive, which may ultimately lighten their financial load.
“This is a great way for students to come and learn how to fund what can be a really expensive, professional program,” she said. “We encourage all students — not only juniors and seniors, but freshman and sophomores as well — to consider attending, as this information can be especially useful early on in a student’s college education.”
The Career Center will have its main Career Fair for all MSU students on Feb. 1-2, 2011.