The fall career fair brought in a crowd of students to connect with employers and alumni representatives who were ready to recruit from the wide range of majors here at WSC.

This semi-annual career fair was hosted in the Kanter Student Center on Oct. 23, and there was no lack of opportunity with employers from medical centers to agricultural fields, and relocation agencies to construction businesses.

Not only did these employers have jobs to offer, but they also had stories of success to share and encourage students to apply.

“I remember going to the career fairs when I was at Wayne,” Matthew Henery said. “Now I am at Werner and I love the culture here.”

Henery graduated from Wayne State College and is now a talent acquisition partner for Werner Enterprises. This logistics and transportation business is based out of Omaha, and was hiring interns and full-time workers. Henery said it is easy to move up through the ranks by working hard and doing the grunt work jobs.

“Werner wants people who are motivated,” Henery said. “People who are willing to work hard and get involved.”

Henery was not the only alumni who had found a career through the fair. Boyd Jones Construction is a general contracting company based in Omaha that knows WSC is the place to go to hire.

“We want people who know what they’re in for,” corporate strategist Andrea Jordan said. “We have hired interns from WSC before and currently have multiple alumni on our staff.”

Big Iron Auctions has also hired interns from WSC and emphasized the importance of rural connections when looking for future employees.

“Our values are already instilled in rural people,” Big Iron representative Abby Eastman said. “WSC is a rural college, and many students have connections to us through family who have worked with us online.”

Although a number of the employers were searching for specific majors or backgrounds, undecided students were not left out.

“This is a great chance for students to meet and make connections with employers,” Career Services Director Jason Barelman said, “and to find out what opportunities are available for different majors.”

The Columbus Area Chamber of Commerce had a booth set up to promote its “Something Good” campaign.

“We have at least 800 jobs open every day,” workforce coordinator Kara Asmus said.

Asmus said Columbus has more engineers per capita than any city, and the city is trying to bring people in to fill those jobs. The chamber will take any student’s resume and disperse it to businesses throughout Columbus, and encourages students of any major to take this opportunity.

“We need students who are in the medical field, in IT, business, HR, accounting,” Asmus said. “There are jobs for anyone.”

Nebraska Game and Parks also shared the value of hiring local students for closer to home employment.

“We see a lot of talent at WSC,” Margot Desrocher, administrative assistant for Game and Parks, said. “We’re here to help push for local positions.”

The career fair was packed with students, a definite growth from the first career fair in 1995. Barelman said the fair has grown from having only 35 employers one year to over 90 this season.

“Career fairs do work,” career service specialist Heather Reinhardt said. “You really can get jobs and internships.”