The University Career Fair and how it connects or fails to connect students to future employers

The University of Regina’s annual spring Career Fair left some students with mixed reactions ranging from positive to strong feelings on what can be improved.

For Teniola Omotayo, a second-year political science major, the fair was a stepping stone toward her post-graduate goal.

“The main highlight of the career fair was visiting  Johnson Shoyama Graduate School table because it is a perspective grad school for me and I got to know what the outlines were for me,” said Omotayo.

Career fairs are often positioned as a gateway to future success, offering students networking opportunities, internship and part-time/ full-time job placements.

“The main goal of the career fair is to promote the opportunities Saskatchewan offers especially for the education students,” said Swetangkumar Panchal, one of the organizers of the career fair.

“The university’s latest career fair held Feb 3rd  brought dozens of employers with hundreds of students attending. This year we have about 53 schools and organizations participating … we try to have 53 to 56 schools that participate in education fair.”

“The career fair was very helpful,” Micheal Siyanbola, a first-year journalism student said. “It creates a pathway for students and builds a professional career for them.”

Others, however, found the event to be more of a formality than a career-building experience.

“The career fair was useless because most summer tables i went to said the application was closed November 2024,” a student who did not want to be mentioned in her third- year engineering said. “Then there is no point for summer 2025 until summer 2026.”

Looking ahead to the upcoming fall career fair, the university is already planning adjustments to make the experience more impactful. The challenge with career fairs remains to ensure that these events truly  serve as a bridge between education and employment.

Erika Madarash a fourth-year Journalism student suggested for more advertisement of the career fair.

“I would like for the university to categorize into sections the employers coming, so we can be more prepared, said Madarash. “It should not just be an advertisement of the career fair but employers and companies that would be attending should be shown on the TV screens and flyers.”

Employers like SaskTel attending the fair had high expectations for students.

“The success rate has been quite high,” Trudy Kohonick the talent acquisition  manager at SaskTel said. “That is why we like coming to the career fair.”

She also explained the variety of programs, specifically the summer student program. “We offer coop programs, junior engineer programs and entry-level positions…..we like hiring those with post-secondary education or working through postsecondary education programs.”

The University’s career fair played a crucial role in organizing the event providing students with resources to make the most of their experience. Leading up to the fair, they hosted resume workshops and networking strategy sessions.

Omotayo believes that the career fair is most helpful for the second year and above.

“I think for first-year students it won’t be the most helpful for them but the higher you go in the university the more useful it is for you,” said Omotayo.