HPU Students Connect With 100+ Employers at CareerFest

Pictured from right is High Point University student Maria Smith as she shook hands with Hannah Pressey, a talent acquisition business partner at Coca-Cola Consolidated, during HPU’s CareerFest inside the Nido and Mariana Qubein Arena and Conference Center on Oct. 22.

HIGH POINT, N.C., Oct. 24, 2024 – High Point University students, dressed in professional attire and carrying copies of their resume, met with recruiters from more than 100 companies during HPU’s annual CareerFest at the Nido and Mariana Qubein Arena and Conference Center on Oct. 22.

Students arrived at the conference center excited to network, get a new professional headshot taken and speak with dozens of recruiters about possibly securing a summer internship or a full-time job after graduation.

“I think this is a great way for students to just get a live interaction with employers,” said Dr. Doug Hall, HPU’s vice president of career and professional development. “It’s one thing to go on a job board and see a whole list of companies who are hiring for various opportunities, but when students are looking for connections, I tell them, ‘This is the place to get them, right here.’ You’ve got live connections, people who you’re going to get contact information from. Students can leave their resumes, so being at the event, that’s going to make a world of difference.”

Maria Smith, a senior criminal justice major from Roswell, Georgia, said she initially didn’t plan to attend CareerFest. She had gone to the conference center to get a new headshot for her LinkedIn profile, but when she learned that employers from the criminal justice field would be at the career fair, she decided to introduce herself to recruiters.

“This school, when they say that they do a lot for students, they do. It’s honestly been such a relief that there are things right around the corner,” Smith said. “There are people that have the connections. It’s easy, and there are people that are willing to help you, which I love.”

One of the employers that Smith stopped to talk with was the FBI, which drew a considerable number of interested students to its table.

Darren Jefferies, a special agent with the FBI, said the law enforcement agency offers 10-week paid internships for students, as well as full-time positions for new graduates. He said not every one of the FBI’s 38,000 employees carries a gun and a badge like himself, adding that the agency is looking to hire young graduates who are well-rounded, diverse and have good communication skills regardless of their major.

“We’re very big on recruiting and looking for a diverse population to come to the FBI, so we heard about this opportunity here at this career fair here at High Point University. And so, our team traveled out,” Jefferies said. “We want to talk to the newest generation coming into the workforce. These individuals have a lot of skills and abilities from this prestigious university, and we want to bring that over to the FBI because the world is always changing, and these students here have the tools to help the FBI go further.”

The conference center was filled with recruiters from local municipal agencies, regional employers and large companies, including German-based automotive parts manufacturer Continental AG and Coca-Cola Consolidated, the nation’s largest Coca-Cola bottler. They took the time to get to know students.

Hannah Pressey, a talent acquisition business partner at Coca-Cola Consolidated, said her company wanted to return to CareerFest because it tends to have at least one intern every year who is an HPU student. She added that the bottler hopes to continue that “pipeline” of talent from High Point to its headquarters in Charlotte, North Carolina.

This was the first time that Colin Henry, a junior marketing major from Atlanta, Georgia, attended CareerFest. He said he wanted to get his name out there to potential employers who are looking to fill marketing positions.

“I feel like it’s very important just to show up at least, just to talk to some people, get some connections because worst-case scenario I come out here, I embarrass myself this time, but next time I won’t,” Henry said. “I’ll know what not to do.”

Henry said he was surprised to hear recruiters with Continental AG tell him about the manufacturer’s positive culture for employees. So, did he end up embarrassing himself while speaking with Continental AG and other employers at the career fair?

“I think I did OK today,” Henry said, smiling.

Earlier in the day, Scott McKain, the bestselling author and business consultant who serves as HPU’s Distinction and Relevance Expert in Residence, spoke to an audience made up of recruiters inside the Callicutt Life Skills Theater. He talked with them about the importance of companies differentiating themselves from their competitors in an authentic way and attracting good talent.

“An Elvis impersonator will never be as popular as Elvis was,” McKain said. “The imitator will never be as popular as the original, but for some reason, we think that in today’s world if you have an edge, if I just copy it or maybe try to incriminatingly improve upon it, that’s going to bring me success in the marketplace. So, we see a lot of folks just imitating.”