Baldwin Wallace will be holding its annual Career Exposition on Tuesday, Feb. 18 in the Lou Higgins Recreation Center from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. This is an event put on by Career Services to help prepare and engage students and alumni with career opportunities, such as post-graduate employment, internships, and on-campus jobs.

“Students can register [for the Career Exposition] for free on handshake, which is bw.joinhandshake.com, or they could download the handshake app, which I would definitely encourage,” said Katie Flanigan, career advisor and marketing director for Career Services.

This year, the Career Exposition will be expecting over 80 employers from Northeast Ohio, as well as various organizations known nationally. Some of these nationally known companies include The Cleveland Indians, Sherwin Williams, and Goodwill. However, governmental, non-profit, and small business organizations will be represented at the Career Exposition too.

“Students will be able to utilize the handshake app to see where employers are [via map], the full list of the employers, what they are hiring for, and their websites, so-on-and-so-forth,” said Flanigan.

In addition this year, Career Services is offering a new event that goes together with the Career Exposition. This new event will kick-off the week by offering students and alumni an opportunity to refine and retouch their resumes, cover letter, 30-second elevator speech, and more.

The event is called “Love Your Career: Career Expo Prepare Fair” and will be taking place on Feb. 13 in the main lobby of the Student Union. There will be two opportunities for students and alumni to attend. The first session will begin at 11 a.m. and run until 1 p.m. The second session will run from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.

Aside from the career benefits or opportunities that students and alumni may receive by attending the Career Exposition, “One other opportunity for students to be involved with the expo, we have an Expo V.I.P. Program, which essentially is students who would like to be paid for helping with set-up, clean-up, registration—basically helping the day run smoothly,” said Flanigan.

If any students or alumni are interested to sign up, all you have to do is email [email protected] from your student email expressing your interest in the position.

Director of Career Services, Patrick Keebler, said he made sure students and employers are ready for the event.

“The Career Expo is our marquee event of the year, it is our campus opportunity for students, and so this year my involvement was really kind of looking at making sure that it happens, and adjusting the rates we charge employers [compared to previous years] to be more consistent with what the market dictates,” said Keebler.

In hindsight, Keebler has recognized how important the Career Exposition can be for students and alumni, and what it means going forward.

“One thing we did do a little bit differently this year that I don’t think we’ve done in previous years is that I’ve reached out to faculty, personally, that teach during the 11-2 p.m. window and I’ve asked them to please consider excusing their students, forgiving those absences, and providing them with the opportunity to attend and inviting them to participate in the expo themselves,” said Keebler.

Career Services is overall excited to host this event as they have been in the past, and are expecting good results from students, alumni, and faculty.

Career Services will answer any questions regarding the event via email or visiting their weekly drop-in advising hours on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays from 2-4 p.m.