Over 130 employers from the Northeast Ohio area offered internships, co-ops and career opportunities to students and alumni on Thursday.  

Students and employers gathered at the Student Recreation and Wellness Center from noon to 4 p.m. for the annual Fall Internship, Co-op and Career Fair put on by the Career Exploration and Development department.

Students and employers had mixed feelings about the new app called “The Fairs App,” which was designed to help navigate and find out more information on companies present at the fair.

“I definitely think the app is helpful because everyone has their phones, and it is easier to just be like ‘this is located at this table’ and ‘we have to go here’ instead of rustling around with a piece of paper,” said Haley Moore, a freshman fashion merchandising major.

“I did get the app, and it is really useful,” said Airika Dickson, a junior business management major. “It gives a quick description of the companies, so if you have 15 companies favorited, then you can step out for a second in between each and focus in on the next company you want to approach.”

While some students and employers seemed to enjoy the relevance of the information given on the app, others thought the app was more of nuisance than anything.

“I think that the app is probably a good form of media for Kent State, but at the same time it keeps students from exploring,” said Mike Chiappini, a recruiter for financial company Synchrony. “If they can already look and see everything on their phone, then what is the point of coming.”

“I don’t think the app is very helpful,” said Nick Crawford, a senior computer science major. “It has a limited amount of information and it is very boring.”

One student from the University of Akron came prepared to help with the issues presented on the app with the use of his new company. Senior marketing major Steven Gates and Crawford created the company DeepHire to help students find out more about companies present at the career fair before they show up to the event.

“I am here because I made a company,” Gates said. “The whole point is to come here and get stories on every company here, and then hand out the stories to students at the career fair.”

Gates said that he created DeepHire because of his own experience of not knowing enough about companies.

“Other than looking at their website and seeing their PR stuff, you know nothing about the company. That’s why we made DeepHire, so students know exactly what to expect when approaching a company,” Gates said.

While the company is still in the works, the two are gathering information on companies that frequent the fairs.

“All of the opportunities that are available today are also available on Flash-at-Work, which is our online recruitment site,” said Kristen Washington, the recruiting coordinator for the Career Exploration and Development office. “So if students weren’t able to make it today, they can see all of the information on the app or the Flash-at-Work site.” 

Angela Radesic is the Jobs and Finance reporter. Contact her at [email protected].