Florida A&M’s Terry Waters, a junior business student, walked into the Al Lawson Jr. Multipurpose Center dressed the part and ready for a job with his résumé and cover letter in hand.
The Pensacola native was among hundreds of students attending this semester's Career Expo Wednesday.
Although, the labor market is now headed in the right direction the prospects for young high school and college graduates remain grim and now people are readily seeking employment.
According to the Economic Policy Institute, the unemployment has been above 8 percent for more than three years, and 12.7 million workers remain unemployed today.
Waters attended the expo with the hopes of building marketable relationships as well as establishing networking benefits among other companies.
Delores A. Dean, director of the career center, said this year’s career expo had a greater turnout beacause of the change in venue.
“I was pleased with the number of students who attended this year’s career expo,” said Dean. “The number has graciously increased prior to previous expos’ help at the Civic Center.”
Waters said he did his research prior to attending and knew what companies would be in attendance hoping to apply for recent and future job opportunities.
“I met with companies such as Walt Disney, CSX, Allstate and many more,” said Waters. “I was looking forward to having intimate networking sessions in allowing me to get first priority with jobs.”
Tyra Jefferson, a freshman political science student from Tampa, said her first expo was enlightening and enjoyed meeting all the employers.
“I found the expo beneficial to me because I was able to meet with potential prospects for future career aspects and to also see where I would fit in,” Jefferson said. “I’d rather start early so I can continue to build my resume and to gain more experience.”
For more information about the resources the Career Center offers, visit www. careercenter.famu.edu.