Business students develop real-world skills through Mock Job Fair
On a recent day off from class, when the 做厙AV campus was mostly quiet, the parking lot at the School of Business & Public Administration had a different energy. Inside, professionally dressed students were moving like clockwork between the two main lecture halls. Some looked nervous, clutching onto a crisp folder containing a cover letter and resume, while others with friendly smiles were escorting students from the waiting room to their interviews.
It was the semiannual Mock Job Fair, a collaboration of four human resources courses with significant logistical coordination and support from the .
The simulated job fair, in its fifth year, is completely organized, run, and attended by students each ones role determined by the class he or she is currently taking.
Were learning to be better interviewers and how to handle different types of personalities, said student Carly Champaco-Mu簽oz, who was interviewing applicants for her teams interior design business, Bonita Concepts. Were preparing for once we get into the real world and into the HR field so we already have that feel of what it takes to be on this side of the table."
Her classmate and colleague in Bonita Concepts, Christian San Nicolas, said the experience was also important for developing the communication skills that are essential in the human resources profession.
How well are the interviewees making eye contact, whats their tone of voice and in return, we have to be professional and give them our undivided attention, he said.
Students from another course, Managing the Employee and Work Environment (BA-345), were tasked with critiquing the company websites, job advertisements, and interview procedure, and students from the Compensation, Benefits, and Performance Evaluations (BA-443) class designed the wage and salary structures for each job opening as well as the benefits packages.
Throughout the course of their degree, students studying human resources participate in the Mock Job Fair multiple times in different roles.
For this class, were on this side of the table, but for other classes weve had to be the ones getting interviewed, San Nicolas said. So were experiencing all sides.
According to Professor Richard S. Colfax, the event involves considerable collaboration by many groups, all being led by the upper-division Staffing and Employee Development class with the SHRM Student Chapter as the backbone for logistics and manpower for operations.
This Mock Job Fair serves every semester as a capstone activity for the human resource management disciplines here at SBPA, Colfax said. This project was a huge success due to the collaboration of many, many students and the guidance of Dr. Joann Diego and her BA-444 project team that always make this a valuable and enjoyable learning project.
The teams fictitious company websites can be viewed here: