College of Public Health offered its first annual Career Day for its students Thursday in Moulton Hall.

The day was dedicated to speaking with future employers, participating in career workshops and learning about available career opportunities in Northeast Ohio.

Twenty-two employers and hundreds of students spent their afternoons exchanging introductions and enjoying refreshments. Summa Health System, Goodyear, Akron General Hospital and Centers for Families and Children were a few employers to make an appearance.

“It’s in response to our students’ needs,” College of Public Health Assistant Dean Ken Slenkovich said. “They’ve said to us, ‘You know, we need more help with finding careers, internships and writing resumes.’ That’s why we put this all together.”

Some students, who felt uneasy about graduation before, said the career day helped.

“The public health students have a great opportunity to receive jobs,” Michael Ellison, junior public health major, said. “The college does a good job of preparing students. Faculty, staff and all the advisors are very helpful. They’re there as friends and as assistors when needed.”

Kent State first offered its public health bachelor’s degree during the fall 2010 semester, according to the university website, and since then, events like Career Day boost students’ confidence before graduating college.

“This is all about preparing students to be ready for the work force, successfully landing the kind of jobs they want and having the kind of careers they want,” Slenkovich said.

Anastasia Smith, senior public health major, said she visited Career Day “to see a representation of what kind of jobs are out there, and in Northeast Ohio, for people who have this degree.”

Current public health majors benefitted from speaking with alumni at the career fair too, said James Hardy, a College of Public Health alumnus.

“It’s very important to attend because public health is a degree that isn’t widely understood,” Hardy said. “That presents challenges, but more than anything, it presents opportunities for students and alums in public health because the training you get with the public health degree at Kent State University really prepares you for a wide range of employment opportunities.”

The College of Public Health at Kent State continues to improve and progress with additions like Career Day, said Sonia Alemagno, dean of the College of Public Health.

“One of the reasons we built the College of Public Health is so we can offer specialized public health degrees,” Alemagno said. “We created our degrees in response to workforce needs in a projected workforce shortage. I’m quite sure this event is one of many things that we do with our students to prepare them to find a job.”

For more information on the College of Public Health, visit http://www2.kent.edu/publichealth/.

Contact Kelsey Drumm at [email protected].