Northwestern University and Evanston's Only Daily News Source Since 1881

The Daily Northwestern

33° Evanston, IL
Northwestern University and Evanston's Only Daily News Source Since 1881

The Daily Northwestern

Northwestern University and Evanston's Only Daily News Source Since 1881

The Daily Northwestern

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Students benefit from public service job fair

Andris Bjornson was there to find a job after graduation. Laura Snyder wanted to find a summer internship. And Jane Lee was just looking around. All three of them came to Norris University Center Tuesday afternoon for the Public Interest Job/Internship Fair.

The fair, sponsored by Northwestern Community Development Corps and University Career Services in honor of Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday, brought nearly 50 public service and nonprofit employers to campus. Recruiters, ranging from federal agencies such as the Bureau of Labor Statistics to local organizations such as the Chicago Women’s AIDS Project, spoke to students individually or in small groups and handed out information and freebies.

“I really like NCDC’s approach to getting service organizations,” said Snyder, a junior psychology major who is interested in education, outreach, counseling and public health. “I’m looking for a nonprofit to do an internship for the summer.”

NCDC and the MLK Committee first sponsored the job fair last year as an alternative to the other, more corporate-focused career expos. Because of the variety of employers that come to recruit, the jobs and internships offered at the fair appeal to all majors, said Priya Bhatia, an NCDC site leader.

“There’s sort of a lack of opportunities presented on campus for people in public interest work because the career expo is more geared toward business,” said Bhatia.

The fair’s smaller scale and narrow focus benefited recruiters as well. Maite Urriola, Recruiting Coordinator at Inner-City Teaching Corps, said she enjoyed this fair more than a more corporate-focused fair she attended Fall Quarter.

“I’m really excited to be here,” said Urriola, whose organization places college graduates in schools on the South and West sides of Chicago. “It’s a different environment. The students here are not necessarily getting a job for the money, but for the meaning.”

Students that attended the fair also noted a more relaxed atmosphere.

Lee, a Weinberg freshman, found the fair overwhelming when she first walked in, but eventually worked up the courage to visit with the recruiters.

“At first I wasn’t going to talk to anyone,” said Lee, her arms full of brochures and pamphlets. “It’s not aimed at freshmen. (But) I want to find stuff to do. I’m interested in hands-on service and being a volunteer in the community.”

And while some students came dressed in suits, others were more casually dressed. Bjornson, a Weinberg senior who plans to spend a few years in Americorps after graduation, wore a sweater and khakis.

“I like the service crowd a little more than the consulting crowd,” he said.

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Northwestern University and Evanston's Only Daily News Source Since 1881
Students benefit from public service job fair