by Delaney Reaves

News Editor

Graphic by Tiffany Sullivan

NorthWest Arkansas Community College hosted a career fair for students on Oct. 12 from 11 a.m.- 2 p.m. with employers from the Northwest Arkansas area. The location was going to be in the lawn behind the Student Center building but due to weather conditions, it was moved to the Wal-Mart Auditorium inside the Shewmaker building. 

The fair was set up to provide students opportunities to meet with employers, hand out resumes and gather more knowledge on work available in the Northwest Arkansas area. 

Crossland Construction Co. attended to recruit students who might be interested in the commercial construction workforce. They gave information out for job positions they have open and field internships they offer. Brittany Cool, field engineer for Crossland, graduated from NWACC with an associate’s degree in construction technology. She said she was excited and willing to come to the career fair and wanted to show students the possibilities that she once worked to have. She was alongside Patricia Arrua, representing the company at one of the booths. 

Siloam Springs Division Chief Shawn Hansen was there promoting the fire department. He was excited to be at this event and get students plugged into the first responder workforce. Hansen said that this line of work is looking for individuals who are self-motivated, seeking adventure and willing to test the limits of their capabilities. He said going into this service does not have any prior qualifications as long as you can pass the tests and interview process. We are looking for someone “who has a passion to serve’’ in this line of work Hansen said. 

The Soar After School Program was invited by NWACC to come to the event to offer opportunities for students. They said their program fits well with students’ school schedules and some NWACC students work with them already. Soar has five locations: four in Springdale and one in Rogers. This program can teach individuals the knowledge needed for various degrees and career paths. Soar staff are able to gain many skills like classroom management, teaching lessons and a wide range of communication skills needed in this setting. Many education majors, family and life sciences and social workers are gaining experience through this program. 

Abigail Salazer, graphic design student at NWACC, and her sister Isabelle Salazer, both attended the career fair. Abigail said that the career fair was easy to navigate, but at the time she was there not as many students attended as she expected. They both said that the fair had more opportunities for part-time work than degree focused jobs. Something they would both tell students attending in the future is to bring a resume ready to give to employers as well as a bag due to many booths handing a lot of information out. 

Amanda Broyles, one of the NWACC staff members who helped organize the event, said NWACC has hopes of the next career fair on the Bentonville campus to be in March 2023. Washington County campus is also open to hosting a fair, but sufficient student interest is needed before this can be established. Students are strongly encouraged to attend these events. Even if students have a job, it is a good way to gain networking connections, Broyles said. 

On Nov. 16 the Washington County campus had an open house event to showcase trade opportunities. This event was in conjunction with the National Apprenticeship Week, held Nov. 14-20. The week is a nationwide event where employers and workers showcase the positives of apprenticeships. The Bentonville campus also held one of these events on Nov. 17 in the Shewmaker Center for Workforce Technologies.