Galloway, N.J. – Making a biannual event feel fresh and new is a challenge. Thankfully, Sofia Abreu is not only up for it but eager to knock it out of the park.

Abreu, a 2011 graduate of Stockton University, serves as director of Stockton’s Career Education & Development (CED).

Since joining the CED office, she has made it her mission to support students in their career journeys through increasing the office’s visibility on campus, providing networking opportunities throughout the academic year and making improvements to the biannual Career & Internship Fair through partnerships both within and outside of the university.

According to Abreu, this spirit of collaboration is what made this year’s fair, hosted in the Sports Center on Thursday, Oct. 9, a success with over 100 employers and more than 1,200 students in attendance.

Working with Faculty to Provide Guidance for Students

According to the team, participation in events like Resume Rush has grown significantly over the years. This fall’s resume reviewing events, Resume Rush, had staff and faculty volunteers from across the campus and attracted over 200 students.

As an example of how helpful faculty members were to Resume Rush, Dayna DeFiore, assistant director and career coach for CED, shared that an adjunct faculty member, Ashley Sardoni, brought her entire class to the Oct. 2 workshop.

“She really invested in preparing the students for the event by assigning and teaching basic resume instructions and requiring them to have a foundational document to bring to ensure that the conversation was more meaningful. They then had to follow up by submitting a final version of their resume,” DeFiore said. "That was a great example of how career readiness lessons can be infused meaningfully into the classroom through faculty partnership." 

Jacklyn Kwarteng, a senior Hospitality, Tourism and Event Management major, said Resume Rush helped structure and format her many volunteer and internship experiences into a document she was proud to show recruiters at the Oct. 9 fair.

The Eagleswood Township resident believes every student should take advantage of events like the rush, saying that it “definitely helped me get prepared for the Career Fair.”

“There were actual hiring managers who, if you apply somewhere, they're the people that actually read your resume and look at it, so they have the experience of reading resumes, and they know what employers are looking for,” Kwarteng said. “So. I would definitely say go because they really give very helpful information.” 

During the Oct. 9 fair, various faculty members were seen with their classes, including Professor of Hospitality and Tourism Management Studies Donna Albano and her introductory class. Although her class is primarily first- and second-year students, Albano has made it her mission to bring them to the fair every time it’s on campus for the last 22 years. 

“I don't miss an opportunity to show appreciation to the employers who come here,” Albano said. “And I want to make sure students experience this early, because some of them are a little nervous about doing this. For many of them, this is their first Career Fair.”

Students Vincent Bartolone and Daniel Guy in the Stockton Hospitality program appreciated the opportunity to attend the fair during their usual class time with Albano.

“It's nice learning about new opportunities that are out there, seeing what's out there for us and what we could do with what we're learning,” said Bartolone, a first-year student from Hammonton.

“I got to talk to a couple of different people and find out some stuff I didn't really know about, like becoming a police officer, and some more in-depth stuff that I wouldn't want to just Google,” said Guy, a sophomore from Ocean City. 

Partnering with Alumni to Prepare and Hire Students

According to Abreu, alumni participation continues to grow year after year, whether they’re in the Decompression Zone or part of the 60+ alumni actively recruiting students behind the tables.

“It really livens the event, and seeing the students engaging with the alumni is truly my favorite part,” Abreu said.

“It’s important because we always drive home to our students the importance of networking, and there's no better person than a fellow Osprey to help our current students make meaningful connections in the world of work,” said Patrick Burns, assistant director and career coach for CED.

During the fair, students had the opportunity to talk with Stockton alumni who volunteer to give final checks on resumes and provide practical networking techniques in the fair’s Student Decompression Zone.

For Biology major Mary Aribo, a simple conversation with an alumna led to her getting to know another student better and being introduced to another alumna who plans to mentor her.

“At first it was overwhelming, but it's fun going to tables, talking to people and meeting alumni who are willing to help you find what you need,” said Aribo, a North Jersey resident who originally hails from Lagos, Nigeria. “If I didn't come here today, I would have never known about the opportunities, people and the connections.” 

When they weren’t proofing resumes, alumni were among the over 100 employers in attendance actively recruiting students for entry-level roles, seasonal positions and internship opportunities.

Louis Pron, who works as a fraud analyst for the fantasy football app Sleeper, is a 2017 dual degree graduate from Middletown. He shared that being on campus and seeing how much it has grown over the years has been “pretty interesting,” but that being a recruiter has been a full-circle moment for him.  

“It's awesome being on the other side of the table. I did the fall and spring fair every year as a student, just walking around,” Pron said. “It's cool being on the other side and talking to people who were in my shoes at one point, and I hope I can do for someone what someone did for me all those years ago: to give them an internship.”

Ahn Nguyen, a 2016 graduate of the Accounting program currently living in Egg Harbor Township, shared the same perspective, adding that she “can feel their pain” regarding students being on challenging job searches.

“But this fair is a really good opportunity for them to practice talking to employers and to see what the market is like for them as a student,” said Nguyen, who works within Alloy Silverstein in Cherry Hill. “This is the second year for me, coming back to campus for the firm, and I will definitely come back. We love it.”

– Story by Loukaia Taylor

– Photos by Susan Allen

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