Career Services Center to hold virtual employer meetups in place of annual Spring Career Fair

With so many students off campus and social distancing rules in place, Western’s Career Services Center (CSC) will hold three virtual employer meetups instead of the Spring Career Fair to connect students with employers and recruiters remotely.

Jenny Spurgin, CSC assistant director, said this decision is meant to keep health and safety as a top priority while also being beneficial for students.

“Respecting the need for physical distancing, we want to ensure students can still connect with organizations to find internships, jobs and build a network for their professional success,” she said.

These events will be held on the Viking Career Link platform on May 15, 22 and 29 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. They will be text only so they can be accessible to those without video capabilities.

“Making connections is always an important part of building a successful career path, but is even more critical when conditions are rapidly changing,” Spurgin said. “Being able to connect to an organization directly and ask specific questions about opportunities can help a student prepare a stronger application and resume and stand out during an interview.”

While this is the first time this has been a virtual event, the turnout is currently looking promising. Spurgin said they already have 20 organizations signed up for the first day, while registration was only launched a week ago.

“Employers are signing up because they want to engage WWU students,” Spurgin said. “The employer meet ups will provide students with an easy way to connect with employers from wherever they are this spring.”

Students are encouraged to RSVP for the event to upload their resume and to prepare like they would for a normal career fair. More information will be released on the CSC website in the future to help students prepare for virtual employer conversation.

Students with any questions are advised to check the CSC web page, stop by during virtual drop-in hours, email careers@wwu.edu or call their main line at 360.650.3240.

More information about the CSC’s remote offerings can be found here at https://www.wwu.edu/careers/virtualservices.shtml.