Having attended previous career fairs, graduating MTSU management major Kacey Day of Tullahoma, Tennessee, brought a higher sense of urgency than many of the Jennings A. Jones College of Business underclassmen seeking internships or entry-level jobs at Tuesday’s career fair inside the Student Union Ballroom.

Almost 60 employers ranging from logistics to retail giants to insurance providers, financial services firms and myriad others sent representatives to the Blue Raider campus Tuesday, March 21, for the 2023 Business Exchange for Student Talent, or BEST, Career Fair.

“Since I’m graduating in May, I’m looking for new job opportunities, transferring into a career, seeing what’s all available here in the Murfreesboro area,” said Day, who transferred to MTSU last year from a small private university in East Tennessee.

Day said she found immediate connections with numerous former high school classmates upon arriving to campus and has thoroughly enjoyed her time as a Blue Raider. She was thankful the career fair offered her an opportunity to take the next step professionally as she prepares to receive her degree at spring commencement.

“It was nice to see different aspects and different (workplace) cultures within job opportunities out there … and what they’re looking for,” said Day, who wants to secure a position within human resources management. “I’m hoping to find something locally … but I’m open to relocating as well.”

‘Excellent opportunity … to connect’

Dressed in business and business casual wear and most with resumes in hand, scores of MTSU students checked in at the fair’s registration table throughout the four-hour event before creating name tags, grabbing the floor chart of the employers inside the ballroom and exploring what prospective employers had to offer.

Sponsored by the Department of Management and Department of Marketing, the fair “is an excellent opportunity for employers and students to connect,” said MTSU management professor Leigh Anne Clark, who along with other Jones College faculty in attendance approached students with uncertain looks on their faces as they entered the ballroom to give them guidance and ascertain their career interests before directing them to the proper areas.

Clark pointed out that the first part of the BEST fair consists of “speed-dating rounds” where students meet with employer representatives for 15 minutes or so before moving to another employer table. Mutually beneficial interactions can continue during the second half of the event, which is structured like a traditional job fair. Student attendees also received a free professional headshot for participating.

“I think this is one of most important things that we do as faculty, is to help our students connect with employers,” said Clark, as chatter encompassed the ballroom. “And the energy in this room is really great.”

As the speed networking wrapped up, Lauren Andrus, a human resources division specialist for the Kroger Co.’s Nashville division, said the fair up that point had “been very productive. Most of the students have been very prepared and very engaged.”

Andrus said she and her colleague, Erica Clower, were recruiting for the company’s summer internship program that centered on retail management. Clower noted that they’d identified promising candidates for two internships as well as a store leader and a department leader position.

“So we’re trying to find our next leaders,” Andrus continued. “It’s a paid internship so it’s a great experience for both sides — us potentially finding our next leaders and them getting the experience of running a store.”

Student: Such fairs ‘insanely important’

While hoping to eventually rise to a CEO position during his professional career, MTSU junior business administration major Christian Bledsoe of Huntsville, Alabama, said he “was hoping to get an internship and possibly a future job when a graduate school next May” at Tuesday’s fair. 

“It’s very eye-opening just seeing what some of the culture and values that these companies have to offer,” said Bledsoe, adding that he had a positive interaction with representatives from Southeastern Freight Lines Inc. among others.

Bledsoe, who currently works as a setup supervisor for MTSU Student Unions to help pay his way through school, said he feels good about his time on the Blue Raider campus as graduation approaches a year from now.

“I’m glad I came to MTSU,” he said. “The faculty and students are very down to earth and are just likable people. (Faculty) really care about us and have given us the knowledge that we can apply in our future.”

Junior marketing and advertising major Tyler Martin of McMinnville, Tennessee, said he visited the fair “looking for future opportunities, internships, something to really hone my skills.”

Martin said he spoke to companies such as Coca-Cola, Cintas Corp. and C Spire during the speed networking round and was pleased with those interactions.

“I felt like I made connections with people … I definitely got some good experience talking professionally to people, and some cool merch (merchandise),” he said with a smile.

Martin, who’s hoping to eventually land a management or creative marketing position with a company, said such career fairs are “insanely important” for students to make inroads with potential future employers and gain confidence with pitching their skills in a professional setting.

“I think that’s what makes the Jones College of Business what it is,” he said. “Things like this and the Dale Carnegie class,” which Martin is currently taking as part of the college’s requirement that all business majors go through the program that strengthens students’ “soft skills.”

‘Land of opportunity’

Junior information systems major Daniel Suarez, a Murfreesboro resident and native of Venezuela, said credit from his management class for attending was somewhat of an incentive for him to visit the fair, but also “to get a jump on the (job) market” as he approaches graduation in a year or so.

“I was very pleased with the experience,” Suarez said, giving the fair “a 10 out of 10” and finding some prospective employers “very down to earth and approachable.”

Suarez said he spoke to a truck sales company, the Tennessee Comptroller’s Office, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., or FDIC, PepsiCo, Coca-Cola, and various logistics companies. Like other students, he was appreciative of the college hosting so many companies on campus.

“They didn’t have to do this,” said Suarez, noting the rack of free business clothing from the Career Closet available outside the ballroom for students who needed such attire. “It just shows they care.”

Suarez, who’s working full-time while attending MTSU, said he hopes to land a remote or hybrid job as part of a logistics team, but eventually wants to save enough money to build his own business, “because we’re in the land of opportunity.”

— Jimmy Hart (Jimmy.Hart@mtsu.edu)