A little bit of everything: Students, members of community get taste of several jobs, education opportunities at Cass County College & Career Expo
Apr. 24—Sophomore Diego Gutierrez attended the Cass County College & Career Expo for the first time Tuesday afternoon. While he initially did not have anything in mind for what career path he should follow, he left with many ideas, one being a career in corrections.
"... honestly, it sounds interesting," Gutierrez said.
At the annual expo, students and members of the community received similar experiences, where they learned about career and education opportunities from over 50 employers and colleges.
Talent Connection Manager with Ivy Tech Jhordan Lee said the turnout for the expo was great this year, as it is every year. She said a wide variety of employers attended, from those involved in manufacturing to healthcare to banks and many more.
"... we've got some schools that showed up to hire, just a little bit of everything," Lee said. "Some construction companies, mostly labor and manufacturing, but I think it's a good cross section of the community that showed up today."
As attendees stopped by booths, many employers spoke on what jobs they had available, the pay at said jobs and what the company does. Some had small items attendees could take with them, such as the WSP booth that gave away small bags of popcorn for attendees to snack on as they walked around.
"I think we've seen a lot of people come in that are interested. I mean, we have the summer help that we're offering for any graduates or seniors that are looking for a job," Environmental Health and Safety Manager at WSP said. "We also have a lot of other open positions that they were interested in, and the popcorn."
The Solidarity Community Federal Credit Union booth saw a great group of students stop by, Marketing Director Jessica Ausbrook said. At their booth, she told attendees about the open float position they have available, along with what products and services attendees have for their finances.
"But mostly, it's focusing on career paths and job openings more than selling things to people," Ausbrook said. "I like to give away all the free stuff and just get to know the students really well."
Colleges, like Indiana University Kokomo, also saw attention from students. High School Admissions Counselor Kiana Robbins said they had sophomores through seniors stop by their booth. She asked students what they are interested in studying in before providing them more information about that area of study, cost of tuition, clubs, on-campus jobs and more.
"We've had a lot of sophomores and juniors very interested with a lot of questions and a lot of seniors that aren't quite sure of the decision that they want to make, having the opportunity to get some final answers to help them make a better decision," Robbins said.
Robbins said the expo is helpful for students that may not have the resources to visit these colleges' campuses themselves or are not sure where to get started. On the career side, Ausbrook said the expo gives students the opportunity to meet with other people in professions they might be interested in.
"So, even if... a student isn't interested in the financial world, they might be interested in radio, or they might be interested in construction, but it gives them the opportunity to really taste and sample a little bit of each," Ausbrook said. "And if they stay and ask some questions, they can really learn a lot about what all these different businesses do."
Students like Gutierrez agreed that the expo presented options for them, whether they have something already in mind or not. Fellow sophomore Jocelyn Orna said while she does not know what she wants to do yet, the expo presented her with a lot of opportunities.
"I really liked it, it gives a chance to get a little bit of everything," Orna said.
Lee said it was great to see several businesses from the community attend for the students of Logansport, and to see students be invested in their career opportunities and college pathways. She said it is better to introduce students to these career opportunities early so they have time to research them further.
"I think a lot of times we think for high school students, they need to wait until they're a junior or s senior to see that. But we believe and we've seen that the earlier you expose students to those opportunities, the better," Lee said. "So, it really just gives them the opportunity to do some research and learn about the options that are available for them post-secondary or even if they want to go straight into the workforce, just to have some time to kind of dig into that and learn more about that."
