Albany State University students dressed for business, equipped with an elevator speech and packing resumes are busy this week following up on job prospects. Graduating seniors met 62 representatives from companies such as CVS, Meditech, Walgreens and State Farm; also schools and police departments at a Career Fair organized by Career Services.

“I’ve been very successful finding candidates for the Walgreens company today” said Sheena Vickers, a Walgreen’s manager from Macon and an ASU alumna. “I’m a product of ASU, so I know there’s a great pool of candidates available here.”

Of six job events held annually, the fall fair is the largest said Career Services director Glorya Williams. “I’m very pleased with the number of employer participants, even though we received last minute cancellations from federal agencies because of the government shut down. Our students came dressed for success and ready to sell themselves to the recruiters. Many of them walked out of here with great job leads, “Williams said.

ASU students streamed into the JC Reese Multipurpose Room from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Biology major Randall Sheffield showed up to find out the next steps toward accomplishing his long term goal. “I met people who were interested in helping me to find a career. I plan to use biology to become a medical doctor, but there are intermediate steps to take toward my goal. For instance, teaching,” he said.

Investigator Vincent Scruggs came to the event hoping to fill ten positions for patrol officers in the Valdosta Police Department. The starting salary for a candidate with a bachelor’s degree is $34,000 with benefits that include life and health insurance; also a retirement package. The agency is aggressively recruiting minorities and women according to Scruggs. “We want to diversify our department to mirror our population. It’s a priority of our police chief,” said Scruggs.

Sergeant Clarence Fugue of the Savannah/Chatham Metropolitan Police Department met 10 qualified candidates. “The candidate we want is a person who understands true law enforcement, not the image portrayed on television and in the movies. Helping the people in the community that you police on a daily basis is what the job is about,” said Fugue adding, “I was very impressed with the ASU candidates.”

Jeremy Robinson graduated in May, secured a job through Career Services as a development specialist in July and returned to campus this week to recruit on
behalf of his company, Atlanta-based Meditech. “We were quite pleased to find several qualified computer science candidates that we’ll bring in to test later and interview,” said Robinson.

The next career fair will be co-sponsored with the Georgia Careers Consortium at the Cobb Galleria in Atlanta on November 13. For more information, contact Career Services at (229) 430-4654.