Ivy Tech Encourages Students and Employers to Connect at Career Expo 2004

Bloomington, Indiana - The Bloomington campus of Ivy Tech Community College looks forward to presenting Career Expo each spring, a time when Ivy Tech students and graduates, and local employers get to connect with each other!  The theme this year "Student and Employer Connections", and our new campus will be the point of contact for the event to be held on April 1 from 1-4 pm.

Like the previous expositions, Career Expo 2004 gives participants the opportunity to network with over fifty potential employers from our local business, public service, technology, and health care industries.  At the same time, the event gives employers a great cost-effective opportunity to talk with hundreds of Ivy Tech students and employers about career opportunities.  "Our first Career Expo in 1998 engendered a strengthening of partnerships, and allowed employers to look toward Ivy Tech State College to meet human resource needs throughout the year.  Last year, over 55 employers were represented and exhibitors received resumes of many qualified candidates.  "The opportunity for students to present their credentials was a success," says Katie Anderson, coordinator of Career Expo. Well over two hundred and fifty students and graduates participated in Expo last year.

Career Expo is open to a diverse range of job seekers: associate degree candidates, students seeking internships or co-ops, or even summer employment. Current job holders who want to change careers or advance in their fields, graduates of the Ivy Tech Community College system and community high school seniors are also encouraged to attend.

This year's career fair was preceded by a series of workshops presented by practicing human resource experts.  Comments Anderson: "It has become very clear that employers expect job applicants, whether students, graduates or established workers, to be prepared and professional when presenting themselves and their credentials.  Hence our emphasis on a series of workshops that expose applicants to good resume construction and cover letter writing, how to communicate with employers appropriately, what attire to wear, and how to handle interviews.  It is important that Ivy Tech students connect with employers in a highly professional manner."

Representatives from business and industry focus on career opportunities in the areas of accounting, business administration, computer information systems, design technology, electronics, heating, ventilation and air conditioning, industrial maintenance, PN and RN nursing, paramedic science, criminal justice, early childhood education, and office administration.  Comments Jeff Becze, Human Resource Representative from PTS Electronics: "With technological advances occurring constantly in our business, PTS Electronics is faced with challenges in updating our personnel with the proper training and education.  Our relationship with Ivy Tech helps us to face those challenges by supporting us with well-educated graduates in electronics technology, as well as partnering with us in the electronics apprenticeship program to develop the skills of our existing employees."

Ivy Tech students also had the chance to get to grips with the state of the local employment market.  Chris Schrader, president of the South Central Indiana Human Resource Association (SCIHRA) comments:  "The Bloomington job market remains relatively robust as compared to the State and rest of the nation.  Local unemployment stood at 2.8% at the end of 2003, whereas Indiana was 4.9% and the U.S. at 5.6%.  As is almost always the case, employment opportunities move in both directions at once.  Manufacturing job destruction has run about 10% per year for the last couple of decades. The opposite trend is occurring in healthcare, where we are entering our seventh consecutive year of a global nursing shortage."  An aging and heavily government supported population in the U.S. and Canada makes it likely that jobs related to medical care will be plentiful for many years to come in North America.  Continues Schrader: "One thing is for certain, jobs that are transactional in nature (either mental or physical) are rapidly being eliminated by technology, export abroad into lower cost labor markets, or both.  The jobs remaining, and to be created, will demand well developed communication skills, strong analytical and critical thinking skills, and a high degree of adaptability."  Study well beyond high school and even into later career development will be essential if employees are to retain any semblance of employment security.

Anderson also reports that several candidates for the associate degree have already been spoken for: "As much as I like to see our students participate in Career Expo, it is nice to know that some have already received competitive offers and the career opportunities they have been wanting to secure."  Nicholas Ely, a candidate for the associate degree in Design Technology who will graduate this May, is one such student.  Following an internship with Cook, Inc last summer, he recently accepted an offer with Sabin Corp as a design technician.  The internship with Cook, Inc was developed through Ivy Tech's office of career services.  Comments Ely: "I graduated from high school in 1999 but didn't want to go directly to college.  After working some time, I enrolled at Ivy Tech and have been studying mechanical design, a field I have always want to be in."

Career Expo 2004 is sponsored by Bloomington Hospital & Healthcare System, Express Personnel Services, Fourwinds Resort and Marina, the Greater Bloomington Chamber of Commerce, South Central Indiana Human Resource Association (SCIHRA), Ivy Tech Community College Student Government Association, Monroe Bank, Personnel Management, Inc. (PMI), PTS Electronics, and The Herald-Times.

Ivy Tech students, alumni and job seekers are encouraged to mark their calendars for the Career Expo event.  To find out more about Career Expo 2004, call Katie Anderson at the Office of Career Services at Ivy Tech State College-Bloomington on (812) 330-6018 or email kanderso@ivytech.edu or visit the Career Expo web site, which can be found on the Ivy Tech Community College-Bloomington home page,  www.ivytech.edu/Bloomington, click on "Special Events" and then click on "Career Expo".)