A Proposal For Change: Two Career Fairs By: Nikole Ellison 12/10/09

Introduction: Part I The Current Situation: There is only one career fair during the school year. Current student body size: 810 One opportunity for over 300 students to attempt to secure a job/internship/commercial cruise There is a around 200 companies that attend the career fair, the majority being from shipping companies.

Introduction: Part II The Current Situation: The majority of the shipping companies that attend career fair mainly recruit for the licensed track majors, i.e. Marine Transportation (MT) and Engineering. The companies that come to career fair looking for Business and Global Studies students are mostly, Enterprise-Rent-A-Car, Fireman’s Fund, CHP, and other local police and military recruiters.

The Problems: Part I The school has only had one career fair during the school year for the past eight years. The main focus of this school continues to be on the MTs and the Engineering students. For many years the career center only had employees that were only focused on helping licensed students find jobs. The number of students looking for jobs and internships is increasing, while the number of recruiters and jobs available is on the decline

The Problems: Part II The school charges a large fee to all the companies, for them to get a small booth in a cramped gym/student center. With the current state of the economy many companies cannot afford to pay that high of a rate. There is only a short period of time devoted to the actual career fair, the recruiters feel rushed. Barely enough time to hold interviews.

The Suggested Solution: Part I One possible solution to the numerous problems previously listed problems would be to have two separate career fairs. One career fair focused on the licensed track students. Recruiters that are looking for 3rd mates/engineers One career fair focused on non-licensed students. Recruiters looking for land based students, i.e. Business and Global Studies

Suggested Solution: Part II Hold the career fairs at two different times of the school year. Hold one career fair a semester Hold a two day long career fair Offer a discounted to rate to the companies that attend both career fairs. Pay full price to attend the first career fair Pay half price to attend the second career fair

Other Possible Avenues The Texas Maritime Academy has something they call Corps Activity. Corps Activity is a weekly assembly that the students are required to attend. Twice a month one to two companies from the shipping industry come and give presentations and afterwards they hold interviews This is similar to the recent Industry Night that was held for non-licensed students.

Possible Objections: Part I There may be some students who object to having one career fair focused on licensed cadets and one career fair focused on non-licensed cadets. Everything costs money, therefore finding the money to host a second career fair could be a difficult challenge. Finding the time for a second career fair during the school year, in between midterms, finals, and the licensing exams could be a difficult task.

Possible Objections: Part II Finding enough recruiters to fill the gym and the student center twice in one year will also be difficult. If recruiters are forced to pay the fee that Cal Maritime charges to attend the career fair twice, there will be less recruiters willing to come to both.

The Benefits With the help of the career center, and motivated students who want jobs in this industry upon graduation, this plan is possible. The school would benefit from two career fairs, by improving the job placement rate and getting our name out there to more companies. By improving the job placement rate the amount of students applying to Cal Maritime could increase.

Conclusion Having a single career fair a year is not enough to help students find jobs in the industry they have studied. There are too many students and not enough recruiters. A second career fair would mean more chances for networking for students, and more opportunities for students to prepare for what is in their future.

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