Bay Cliff Health Camp is just one of 87 businesses recruiting NMU students and alumni at the 54th Annual Fall Semester Job Fair Wednesday, Oct. 27. The event will take place in the Northern Center Ballrooms from 1-4 p.m. 

Bay Cliff Health Camp will be looking to hire student counselors, activity directors, nurses and lifeguards for their 2022 Summer Camp, said Christi Schmitt, the camp’s physical therapist who will be recruiting students at the event.

“It’s a good experience to be able to work on those interpersonal skills, introduce yourself, do that networking and make connections with different people in the community or different organizations that you’re interested in,” said Schmitt. 

The job fair is open to all NMU students and alumni as an opportunity for students to meet with employers that are looking to hire or to connect with professionals. The event is about networking, said Director of Career Services Katie Korpi, who has worked at NMU since 2008.

“This is such a powerful thing to put yourself in, to advance past other candidates who don’t make those personal connections,” said Korpi.

Career Services started planning in July and sent out more than 16,000 employers invitations. Employers are coming from all over the country, including companies such as Adult Learning Systems U.P., Madison Police Department, EMD Serono, MilliporeSigma and EMD Electronics, Korpi said.

“I think it’ll be a very positive atmosphere with a pretty good set of employers from diverse backgrounds,” said Korpi. “It should be a really positive place with lots of energy.”

Going to the job fair allows students to practice talking to people in their field and can become more comfortable doing so, said Korpi. During a focus group last spring, students told Korpi that they value the job fair as a place to practice networking.

“That’s exactly what we want students to do, even if there’s not a super perfect employer out there,” said Korpi. “Just getting a sense of what it is like to go to a job fair.”

Korpi has worked in Career Services since 2018 and recommends that students dress for success. 

“You want to look your best whether that’s on camera or in person,” said Korpi. “I strongly encourage people to use an iron.”

Career Services offers tips on how to prepare for the job fair and what businesses are registered for the event on their website. Students and alumni who register and check in to the fair are placed into a drawing where 10 winners will be selected to win a prize.

“We want to see [students] to be successful,” said Korpi. “You put so much energy and time into your degree, you want it to pay off, you want it to help you. Put yourself in a career that you’re going to love.”

Matilda Perkins, a clinical laboratory science major at NMU, helped with organizing materials for the event and helping employers sign up for the event. Perkins will be attending the job fair so that she is able to plan her next steps for when she graduates in fall 2022. 

“The job fair is a great opportunity for all students to find any type of employment they are looking for,” said Perkins. “There are some great part-time opportunities that will be available as well as seasonal options for students in the summer.”

Schmitt suggests students do their research ahead of time to be prepared to talk to the people that they are interested in talking with. Bay Cliff Health Camp’s online website has different job descriptions for positions they are hiring in.

“Even if you don’t decide to work with us, you might have an idea of a program or a group that you’d like to do some volunteering,” Schmitt said.

For more information about the event, go to https://nmu.edu/events/fall-semester-job-fair or email [email protected].