Showcase Connects Students with Employers

Bethel hosted its first Employer Showcase in September. Students from a variety of majors gathered in the Olson Boardroom to hear presentations from representatives of 14 companies, including Target, U.S. Bank, Deloitte, and UnitedHealth. Presenters shared details about job and internship opportunities and described company culture. Networking in the Underground followed. 

Placement Coordinator Lela Sanchez Oslin and Associate Director of the Office of Career Development and Calling Will O’Brien organized the event in response to the fact that a number of companies’ application deadlines are before Bethel’s Project Ex job fair in October. The showcase format was meant to allow students to interact with alumni representing their companies before those deadlines, and to build connections that could lead to a job offer. “The intention was to have something much more low-key [compared to a job fair]… and to have a conversation,” Sanchez Oslin says. “[The Showcase] was marketed as a time to come and meet people.”

Accounting and data analytics major Amy Nelson ’20 enjoyed meeting with numerous firms at the Showcase and connecting with the alumni who represented them. “A goal for my junior year is to go deep with my network,” she says. “There’s a lot of opportunities here to talk with alums and gain advice.” 

The Showcase also enabled students to explore the culture and values of companies to which they were considering applying. According to O’Brien, Bethel students tend to look for companies where they feel they will fit in, in addition to basing their decisions on position qualifications. “Hearing about company values and mission statements helps students decide if they want to work for a firm,” he says. “Students want to find a place they feel comfortable, have a community, and where they can make a difference.” 

Researching companies as prospective employers is a priority for accounting and finance major Natalie Lawrence ’20. “I can ask questions, get more information, and apply for positions in person,” she says about the Showcase. “I can meet people in areas around what I want to do, learn about the culture, and what they like about working there.”

Marketing and data analytics major Natalie Narloch ’20 attended the Showcase to search for a summer internship. Narloch enjoys meeting people who actually work for the companies that interest her. “I first look at the people they typically employ and the culture of the company,” she says. “Marketing is so broad that you could be doing a variety of things within one position, but the people you are going to be working with... that’s where you’re going to be making an impact.”

Nelson, Lawrence, and Narloch are just a few of the many students who left the Showcase with an enriched understanding of the area’s top employers. Sanchez Oslin says meeting with Bethel alumni who now work at big-name companies shows students examples of where their careers can take them. “It’s a great way,” she says, “to reflect back on the value that a Bethel education has.”

Career Development and Calling at Bethel.

Career Development and Calling serves Bethel students and alumni in their career development. Find out how they can support you—from exploring strategies for a successful job search, to holding practice interviews, to offering career assessments.

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