Not your average career fair: Students explore not-for-profit opportunities
The Chicago Police Department’s booth garnered many inquiries about their hiring process.
On July 2 at the Robert Morris College Chicago campus, career services put a new spin on the all-too-familiar concept of a career fair. This was done by holding a career fair entirely devoted to not-for-profit entities. This event, which is to be held annually from now on, was a resounding success. The fair gave students the opportunity to meet new people, gain valuable interview experience, and explore new career fields, speaking exclusively to organizations that focus on people who positively influence the world.
There were many organizations present at the career fair: Jobs for Youth, Peace Corps, and the Chicago Police Department, just to name a few. Some people, when they think about working for a not-for-profit, consider only volunteer positions which do not pay. However, a wonderful career could quite easily be found among the organizations present at an event like this one. For instance, consider the Chicago Police Department and its many openings.
“We have about 600-700 open positions and there is one (acceptance) test per year. There are usually about 5,000 applicants, but naturally some get weeded out… All the positions are entry level. The Chicago Police Cadet program is a program that is geared for college students, aged 17-21. It pays about $9 an hour and the students do in-house work such as answering phones and typing police reports. We rotate them and it gives the Cadets insight as to whether this is the field for them,” said John Halko of the Chicago Police Department.
For individuals who were not looking for a career in a not-for-profit environment, there were also many volunteer opportunities available. Like the Peace Corps for instance, which is entirely a volunteer organization. “The Peace Corps is a wonderful opportunity to put your degree to work in a non-traditional setting. It allows you to build on a degree that you have and gain a global perspective. It helps you solve problems here in a more innovative and resourceful way… Even if you don’t have a specific degree, the Peace Corps will take skills,” said Liz Ategou.
Part of the benefit of a career fair is the chance for young students to mix and mingle with others, gaining valuable networking experience and learning how to present themselves. To those students who came to the career fair with this in mind, Natalie Daniels of Jobs for Youth had this advice.
“Have an elevator speech prepared: 30 seconds about what you want, why you are interested, and what your future goals are,” said Daniels.
Theresa Johnson, the organizer of the career fair said, “This event allows students to get involved with community based projects, companies, or associations that are about helping people… This will become an annual event.”
The not-for-profit career fair was very successful this year. It provided a great service to the students at Robert Morris College by making new opportunities available to attendees and giving them an excellent networking opportunity. So, keep your eye out for a similar event in the future; it is not something that should be missed by anyone.