Career fairs are a fabulous tool for soon-to-be graduating seniors. There are vendors galore, free keychains and cups, and job opportunities sprinkled just about everywhere. They’re potential portals that can catapult you into your desired workforce. So what happened to Rowan’s career fair? Don’t get me wrong: the fair presented a fabulous opportunity for people in healthcare, law enforcement, and logistics, but what about everyone else?
As a journalism major, I walked away utterly disappointed at the selection of offerings to be had. It was the Communication, Humanities, & Social Sciences Career Expo, but where the heck was the communication aspect? I eyed one vendor that excited my senses, and it was PBS. Yes! Finally, something that applies to my major! But no. As it turned out, it was the Positive Behavior Supports Corps.
You had your NJ Department of Labor, NJ State Police, FBI, and NJM Insurance. There were tables for Pennsylvania State Police, Renewal By Anderson, ReYou Ketamine Treatments, and Oaks Integrated Healthcare. But where were the employment opportunities related to communications?
I walked around, talking to every person at every table about whether there were any opportunities for a journalism major, and the general sound bite I received was “Well, there isn’t anything journalism related per se, but we have lots of opportunities for people in every major because we can train you for …”
How does that help me?
I tried. I honestly did. I submitted my resume to Disney, even though their program is more like a general communications role, and the jobs are more “up front, with the public,” said the Disney representative. Then I headed over to the FBI—hey, a girl can dream, can’t she?—but they were really only looking for people who were exceedingly good with computers or who wanted to become full-fledged agents. I’m a little old for that game.
But I wasn’t giving up. My professors told me that the career fair was brimming with opportunities, if not for a career, then at least for a contact in a nontraditional field. I went to the ketamine shop and a couple of law enforcement agencies, but at the end of the day, had I actually accomplished anything?
The answer? A big, fat no. All I did was waste three resumes and the high-quality paper it was printed on. I started to question my major. Was that career fair representative of what’s available out there in the communications field? Was all this work on a journalism degree for nought?
I picked my dejected self up and headed home. I kicked off my shoes and picked up my phone to read the news, and surprise, surprise, as usual, there were more stories than I could possibly read. There are plenty of journalism jobs in the working world! Where were the Philadelphia Inquirer and the Courier Post and the New York Times? Okay, that last one might be stretching it a bit, but there are easily a hundred local publications available to apply to, and not one was in attendance that day. I don’t know if it’s because the tables actually cost money for the prospective employers or because Rowan University is too small potatoes for some of the more well-known publications, but there’s one point that I stand steadfast on: I emphatically believe this is an ‘It’s not me, it’s you’ kind of scenario on this one.
