Students meet potential employers at job fair

ShelRogers

WKU students got a taste of real-world job hunting on Wednesday at the Spring Jobs Fair.

WKU Career Services Center hosted the event in the Preston Center from noon to 3 p.m. for all students. WKU participating seniors had reserved time from 11 p.m. to noon to talk with potential employers. There were more than 50 businesses represented throughout the day, including Fruit of the Loom and Target.

“This has been really successful today,” said Rebecca Tinker, CSC’s associate director.

Though Tinker was unable to provide an exact figure for how many students participated, she estimated that there were several hundred students visiting booths throughout the fair.

“The 11 to noon seniors’ only section was packed,” Tinker said. “We couldn’t fit many others if we had to.”

With resumes in hand, students walked around booths, stopping to speak with potential employers that caught their eye.

Freshmen Jasmine Wells and Brandi Pendleton, both nursing majors, enjoyed the opportunity to talk to employers they weren’t familiar with.

“Being from a small place back home, we didn’t really know what was out there job-wise,” Pendleton said.

Wells agreed and said that the fair helped give her an idea on what employers are looking for.

 “It helps make sure that we have a job when we get out of school,” she said.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc.’s Louisville branch was one of the business who have previously hired WKU graduates and were impressed with what they saw today.

“I’m really excited for our sales and ops [operations] programs,” said Caleb Duvall, a representative from the company.

J.B. Hunt, despite being a new company to the job fair, has “hired five WKU graduates within the last year and a half,” said Adam Stampfer, another J.B. Hunt representative.

Frito-Lay Inc. was another company new to WKU’s job fairs.

“It’s our first time at WKU,” said Aston Wheat, a Frito-Lay representative. “We’ve been trying to branch out into other schools.”