HireOhio employers in the Ohio Union’s Archie Griffin Ballroom. Credit: Courtesy of Marilyn Rice
HireOhio will return to Columbus Monday for its biannual Multi-University Alumni Career Fair, with a range of employers among Fortune 500 startups, government agencies, nonprofits and other employers looking to hire people for full-time salary positions.
Some employers on the roster for this year’s event are the Central Intelligence Agency, Equitas Health, KEMBA Financial Credit Union, the Ohio Department of Health and more, according to the fair’s event page.
HireTalent, a company that specializes in multi-university, alumni-only career fairs, allows for expansion into major cities, including Columbus. HireTalent invites all four-year schools to bring their alumni, graduate students and graduating seniors to the one-day, three-hour career fair, said Jeff Nortman, CEO and founder of HireTalent.
“We get anywhere from 60 to 100 employers at the event and job seekers anywhere from 300 to 1,400,” Nortman said.
Marilyn Rice, director and planner of HireOhio, Ohio State’s HireTalent representative and business partner of Nortman, said Ohio State brings in roughly 80% of the job seekers.
Rice said the biannual event happens once at the end of the fall semester and then again at the beginning of summer.
“We welcome students who are about to graduate. So, December grads, and in the summer, we’ll do one also in June,” Rice said. “Then we are able to welcome May grads, August grads and the summer grads — [the process is] kind of more immediate because employers are ready to hire.”
Rice said the event is different from the other student career fairs that Ohio State has to offer. Students are often rushed into these fairs within the first few weeks of settling into a new school year, with employers looking to hire for the next summer. She said HireTalent brings in employers that are ready to hire within the next few months.
Approaching graduation or having just graduated without a definite plan is a stressor that is often felt among student populations, but with the help of HireOhio, job seeking alumni can get a better idea of what it means to succeed, according to Rice.
“[The] job search can be tough, you know, and the opportunity to meet hiring managers does not happen very often,” Rice said. “So, if we can bring them together and make this special event for alumni, it’s just a great opportunity for them to be in the same room and to network with each other.”
Rice said HireOhio’s mission is to make sure alumni have equal access to success and opportunity. Though many alumni do not reside in University District, there are sets of recorded webinars that are sent out to registrars to prepare job seekers for their time with employers, as opposed to attending the workshops on campus.
For HireOhio organizers, success is not solely based on the number of attendees — it’s about the outcome. Nortman and Rice said their goal is to watch job seekers leave the event with confidence, now further equipped with the skills necessary to prepare and secure a job.
“I just hope they go in there, have a pre-screen interview and then go through the whole process of the interview, and ultimately get a job,” Nortman said. “That’s a success for us.”
HireOhio is a free event, located at the Ohio Union inside the Archie Griffin Ballroom, Monday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Registration can be found at HireOhio Multi-University Alumni Career Fair event page.
