Kent State students and alumni filled the Kent State Field House Thursday afternoon, prepared to network with a wide variety of potential employers at the Spring Internship, Co-op and Career Fair. The Kent State Alumni Association has been offering this service for the past two years.

“I heard about this career fair through my professional seminar class,” Morgan DeCapua said, a junior fashion merchandising major. “We were encouraged to come here and check out the different booths and get information for summer internships.”

Students and alumni were invited to dress in professional attire, bring several copies of their resumes and have a “one-minute elevator pitch” prepared.

“I went to a career fair prep workshop,” Arielle Shaw said, a junior fashion merchandising major. “It was really helpful because they told us what to expect, what we should wear and what we should talk about.”

Students that did not attend career fair prep workshops prepared in different ways.

“I made sure I had enough resumes printed to hand to employers and researched the companies I was interested in ahead of time,” Alex Lizanich said, a senior history major.

At the entrance, students and alumni received a packet filled with career fair tips with a list of all the companies that were there, the positions they were seeking and their contact information.

Although some companies were looking for students with specific majors, others were more concerned with the personality of the student.

“We are looking for people with ambition and drive and someone who can work well with a team,” Logan Sand said, the director of talent acquisition at Bridge Logistics Inc. “Tasks are not always delegated to us, so someone who can take it upon themselves to make something happen is important.”

Many companies also had advice for students and alumni attending the career fair.

“The number one thing I would tell students is to be outgoing,” Pam Pesa said, human resources manager at Waffle House. “Talk to everyone and show your personality. You never know what kind of opportunities you could be missing out on if you don’t step out of your comfort zone.”

Not only were students given the opportunity to network with a wide variety of companies, but they were also able to get a free professional photo taken by Sketch Studio for their LinkedIn profiles.

“I don’t have a photo on my LinkedIn profile right now, and this is much better than taking a selfie,” Jasmine Jones said, a senior speech pathology and audiology major.

For students and alumni to get their free picture taken they simply had to give the photographer their name, email and class standing. They will receive an email with their picture attached within seven to 10 days.

“We want to make sure our students are well represented,” Dennis Watson said, alumni relations assistant director.

This year’s total for the complimentary LinkedIn (481) photos beat the original record set last spring of 364.

“The partnership between Career Exploration and Development and the Alumni Association was paramount in shattering this record,” Watson said.

Watson said they would continue to offer complimentary professional photos to students and alumni to aid them in their career search.

Danielle Johnson is the jobs reporter, contact her at [email protected].