STARKVILLE — Students from Starkville-Oktibbeha Consolidated School District’s Millsaps Career and Technology Center flipped the script Wednesday during a reverse career fair, showcasing their skills and experience for industry professionals.
Instead of browsing booths to explore career options, students manned their own booths where potential employers, teachers and college representatives learned about their projects and portfolios.
April Dill, who teaches the education preparation program at Millsaps and spearheaded planning the event, said instructors meet with an advisory board of local industry twice a year to discuss employability skills. Hosting the fair, she said, was a way to get students involved in that conversation.
“This is an opportunity to have our industry come, but our students to be the focus, with the goal of networking and then practicing their presentation skills and highlighting their resume and showing off the things we do in our classes,” Dill told The Dispatch.
Starkville High School’s cafeteria was packed with second year career-technical education students presenting their work from different classes, ranging from horticulture and welding to digital media and unmanned aviation.
This is the first year Millsaps has hosted a reverse career fair, Dill said. She approached administration about the idea after hearing of a similar event in Itawamba County.
Industry partners on the advisory board were invited to speak to students at the fair, along with SHS teachers, college representatives and other local businesses. The goal was to give students a chance to establish connections for their future career paths, Dill said.
“It’s an opportunity (where) industry can offer a job shadowing or an internship (or) just a contact when they graduate or when they start college,” she said.
Aside from talking to potential employers, Dill said students also benefit from brushing up on their soft skills, like interviewing. Her hope is that students walked away feeling prepared to use those skills in the real world.
“I hope they gain confidence in presenting and just showcasing the great things they’ve done,” Dill said.
FORGE Executive Director Melinda Lowe, who attended the fair, said it was inspiring to see students so engaged in furthering their future careers. FORGE, which stands for Family Organizations Recruiting Great Employees, is a group of 12 local companies focused on bringing more attention to construction careers. It was founded in 2018 by Graham Roofing, APAC, West Brothers Construction, Burns Dirt Construction and McCrary-West Construction.
Events like this highlight the importance of connecting students with industry professionals, Lowe said.
“It was incredible to see so many talented students showcasing their skills and projects across a variety of trades,” Lowe wrote in a text message to The Dispatch. “… It’s clear that these students are ready to forge their own paths, and we look forward to helping them do just that.”
Carissa Palmer, a senior in the education preparation program, said the fair allowed her to advertise her skills without the high stakes of a job interview.
“A lot of times it can be scary to go into an interview for the first time, especially when it’s the real deal,” she said. “But doing things like this gets you used to talking to people you don’t know.”
Palmer said she and classmates prepared for the fair by making portfolios, which included resumes, cover letters, teaching philosophies and pertinent class assignments to share with professionals. But her favorite aspect of the fair was the networking opportunities it presented, she said.
“I’ve gotten to talk a lot about the program, and what I want to do after I (graduate), which is exciting,” Palmer said. “It’s really cool, (when I’m) about to transition out of high school, to really start thinking about the future and talking to people I respect about it.”
LaTrel Green, a senior in the unmanned aviation program, spent the career fair discussing different uses for drones as well as how they are coded. He also took the time to get advice from his audience.
“You can meet with business people to get a good connection with them and show your work and your portfolios and your resumes … and ask for tips and advice as a young student and someone willing to work for them,” Green told The Dispatch.
With the reverse career fair’s success, Dill said she expects there will be another next year, along with more instruction for students about employability.
“Our goal next year is to start each nine weeks focusing on an employability skill and teaching them, like dress and interviewing skills,” she said. “… Then our culminating thing would be in the spring with this.”
McRae is a general assignment and education reporter for The Dispatch.
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