Career expo links students to employers

Jeremy Leake busily perused a bulletin board of job opportunities Tuesday at the fourth annual Alpha Beta Gamma Business Honor Society Career Expo at Blue Ridge Community College.

Leake, a Luray native, will graduate with an associate degree in computer technology and electronics next month from Blue Ridge.

Like other high school and college students attending Tuesday’s career expo, Leake was eager to find any potential jobs that fit his training.

“I’d like to start saving some money,” said Leake, had talked during the morning to nTelos about a customer service job.

Audrey Lail, a business management professor at BRCC and an advisor to Alpha Beta Gamma, said it was important for students like Leake to talk to potential employers.

“We want them to meet employers,” she said. Lail said the students spoke to about 16 exhibitors from banks, manufacturers, insurance companies and the military.

Lail said the number of companies appearing at this year’s career expo is down from prior years.

“We are sensitive to the fact that employers don’t have the resources to come to a career fair,” she said.

Blue Ridge President John Downey said students could learn some valuable lessons Tuesday. He said employers are seeking workers with the proper training for the jobs they offer as well as employees who can critically think and display a strong work ethic.

Downey said for the high school students attending Tuesday’s career fair, it was important to think “of career first and education second.”

He said those students would have a better chance of acquiring the training and proper job placement.

Jenny Gardner, a career coach at Wilson Memorial and Stuarts Draft high schools, said the experience was important for high school students.

“When they are exposed [to employers] it gives them a goal,” she said.

Gardner said she senses a slow economic recovery evidenced by her students getting jobs in the service sector such as in food service, retail and customer service.

Students heard a variety of speakers, including former Blue Ridge graduates and the career paths they took, and the value of international education and travel abroad.