Students attending Salt Lake Community College without a specific idea of the career field or major they want to choose had an opportunity to learn more about the choices offered at SLCC.
The Majors to Careers Fair was held October 5, 2011 and was specifically designed to assist students in finding a path to step ahead on.
“If you’re undecided, it’s a great place to come. You can’t get this insight in any other setting,” said Joanne Thomas, assistant director for the Academic and Career Advising Center and the event organizer.
The fair was held in the Student Event Center on the Taylorsville Redwood Campus and was filled with 58 individual booths along with academic program representatives from every division of programming available to students.
In addition to program directors, there were SLCC students at each booth that are majoring in that particular program. They were there to answer specific questions from a student’s perspective in regards to why they chose their major and things they’ve done in the program.
Some of the programs and services represented are not well known by many students, such as the Geomatics Program, which is the study of geospatial movement and representation and offers careers in surveying and cartography.
One of the newest on-line services available to students was highlighted at the event. Career Coach is a software program students can access on SLCC homepage; it has specific information related to every major as well as list of current job openings in those fields.
Tony Rizutto, a career advisor, was administering a shortened version of the Meyer-Briggs Inventory, which is a personality style test that assists students in finding the best personal fit for their majors.
“There is a high correlation between a person’s personality and success at their occupation. If they are mismatched, you either don’t like it, or you make a lot of mistakes,” said Rizutto.
The fair specifically focused on engaging students and encouraging interaction with individuals in the departments. They accomplished this by using a full tuition waiver as an incentive to increase student attendance. In order to enter the drawing, students received a ‘map’ of the fair. They were required to visit and interact with three booths, after which they would receive a sticker. The completed map would then be entered in a drawing later.
Additional incentives for attendance were a live band, free popcorn, pizza and handmade cotton candy. Outside sponsors UPS and Wells Fargo were present with individual giveaways.
“The incentives for free tuition were great, and it was useful to learn what to do after SLCC,” said SLCC student Rachelle Chaston.
Organizers estimated around 600 students in attendance throughout the day and they expect a similar turn out early next year.
“It [the fair] was certainly beneficial. Some of them (programs) I wasn’t aware of. I would definitely come back again,” said SLCC student Andrew Lyon.
If you were unable to attend, Assistant Director Joanne Thomas reminds students that “it’s something they won’t want to miss out on in the springtime.”
