Alumni chapter job fair provides networking, scholarship funds

The Metro-Washington Alumni Chapter of JMU hosted its fifth annual job fair at Tysons Corner in McLean last Friday.

The event attracts about 40 to 50 companies every year, according to Mark Chernisky, career services chair for the alumni chapter.

Chernisky said employer fees paid by the companies help defray the cost of the job fair and with the remainder of the money going toward a scholarship fund founded by the alumni chapter.

"We’ve raised about $50,000 for the chapter’s scholarship fund," Chernisky said.

The job fair was open to JMU students and alumni, as well as people in the community who aren’t affiliated with JMU, said Wendell Esbenshade, JMU’s community coordinator for alumni relations.

The job fair allows the chapter to raise its profile in the community, to raise money for the scholarship fund, to help people not affiliated with JMU, and to increase chapter alumni’s use of Web tools through marketing the event via e-mail and Web site, Chernisky said.

He added that the fair also is a means of networking for employers and potential employees.

Half the companies attending provided entry-level careers, including careers in management, technology and accounting, Chernisky said.

He added that the demand for finance and accounting majors at the college level is consistently high.
Chernisky said he thought of creating a job fair when he attended other nationwide job fairs to spread the word about the job market in Fairfax County and saw that other alumni groups were sponsoring job fairs.

Chernisky said he convinced the Metro Washington alumni chapter to sponsor one as well, embarking on a marketing campaign that included e-mail newsletters, phone calls and direct mailings.

"Our best sources have been JMU’s career center and alumni referring the fair to employers," he said.
Kim Nguyen-Dinh (’04) attended the job fair.

"I’m here to gain experience for later on," she said. Nguyen-Dinh added the fair seemed like it had many technology and government jobs, but her preferred path, the music industry, wasn’t represented.

Some companies were looking for "a wide variety of people," according to GTSI Corp. recruiter Rob Ragsdale. He added that his company is hiring many applicants for various areas of business, such as sales and marketing.

Cisco Systems recruiter Angie Meyer said her company is recruiting systems engineers and applicants in the area of sales.

"We’re looking for an all-around person, someone who’s not already set in their ways," Cisco recruiter Michael Godwin said. He added that recruiters also were looking for applicants with public speaking and interpersonal skills, as well as being "team players."