SANFORD — Sarah Flowers, a veterinary medical technician, is a big booster of Central Carolina Community College’s career fairs.
The 2010 Career Fair, held March 10 at the Dennis A. Wicker Civic Center, brought together representatives from about 55 businesses, private and government agencies, and the military to speak with the several hundred students who attended. The students wanted to know about career opportunities with them and the representatives were eager to share the information. The event was sponsored by the college’s Career Services office.
Flowers, who works for Park Veterinary Hospital, in Raleigh, was at the Career Fair speaking to many of the college’s Veterinary Medical Technology students about opportunities with her employer.
“The annual Career Fair is great,” Flowers said. “I graduated from the college’s Vet Tech program in 2009 and last year’s Career Fair helped me find my job.”
Now she’s sharing the good news of job opportunities with the current students. Helping her share the message was Valerie Hill, Park Veterinary Hospital office manager.
“We’re excited to be here,” Hill said. “We’ve met folks in the college’s Vet Tech program that have the experience we’re looking for. We already have a graduate working for us, so we know it’s a quality program.”
Officer Patrick Carroll, of the Sanford Police Department, was another graduate who represented his employer at the Career Fair.
“I graduated from the college’s Basic Law Enforcement Training program in 2003,” Carroll said. “Now, I’m here to let those interested know what they need to do to become a Sanford police officer. The Career Fair is a great tool.”
Long rows of recruiting and information tables, each with one or more representatives, lined the center’s Exhibition Hall, making it easy for the students to browse, pick up information, ask questions, and compare what similar businesses and agencies were offering. Some were offering part- or full-time jobs or both, which suited the students. Some of them were seeking full-time jobs in anticipation of graduation. Others were seeking part-time or jobs that fit with their class schedule while they continued to attend school.
CCCC students Jordan Goins, of Broadway, Josh Rossser, of Deep River, and B.J. Bullard, of Sanford, were interested in hearing from those representing law enforcement agencies. All are Criminal Justice majors at the college.
“This is a really good idea,” Goins said of the Career Fair. He and the others were particularly interested in what Trooper H.L. Brim of the N.C. Highway Patrol had to say about opportunities with that agency.
“Having the representatives here gives me a lot of information, especially about being a state trooper, which is my long-term goal,” Goins said.
While many students chatted with the representatives, others had already made some decisions. They sat at tables filling out job applications. Among them was Charlotte Merritt, of Sanford. She was filling out an application with Lee County Industries for a position in its Community Alternative Program to work one-on-one with people with disabilities.
“This is a great event,” she said. “It really helps people to find out about job opportunities they otherwise wouldn’t know about.”
That’s one of the major goals of the event, according to Gina Del Vecchio, the college’s Career Services coordinator.
“It’s very important to our students, especially in this economy, to have the opportunity to speak with businesses, agencies, and others in the community that hire,” she said. “There are jobs out there.”
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