Warrington Career Week connects hundreds of students with recruiters, despite pandemic

Searching for a job can be a stressful and demanding task. Doing so during a pandemic doesn’t make it any easier.

Despite the inherent challenges associated with job searching in the time of COVID-19, Warrington College of Business students were set up for success thanks to Warrington Career Week – a virtual event put on by Business Career Services designed to help students explore career options, learn about company culture, affirm academic major choices, network with employers and enhance career readiness.

From February 1-4, almost 500 students attended Warrington Career Week, resulting in 1,200+ check-ins at various sessions and networking events. During the virtual event programming, Warrington students had the chance to learn about the 46 companies in attendance, like Accenture, Pepsi, JPMorgan Chase, UBS, and P&G.

“The virtual format of this event provided a great opportunity to maintain continuity for our students during the all-important spring recruiting season, regardless of where they were located,” said Craig Petrus, Executive Director of Warrington’s Business Career Services. “Impactful career and professional development programming continued with our employers in attendance, along with their focus of recruiting our students into summer internships and full-time jobs. This event did not miss a beat!”

Following the virtual sessions, Business Gators had the chance to meet one-on-one with company representatives in “office hours” to get a deeper look at the companies they might be interested in pursuing as a first step in their career. Overall, companies hosted students for a total of 13 office hours.

“Despite our dedicated team having to reinvent the way we provided connections between our students and the employers who recruit them by going to a virtual format for this event, we experienced a significant increase in the number of companies who participated this spring versus those that participated 2020,” Petrus said.

For student Isabella Jimenez (‘24), her first Warrington Career Week gave her plenty of valuable insights as she begins her career journey. Jimenez attended two presentations during Warrington Career Week, including The Selling Factory Adam Grossman’s presentation “Selling Yourself: How to Maximize your Marketability to Future Employers” and “A Day in the Life and Career Exploration for Students” from Kristy Kirby of Tech Data.

“As I prepare myself for my career search, the information and knowledge I have acquired from the two sessions I attended have taught me some very important tips and tricks to set myself apart from other applicants when applying for a job, knowing how to keep my head on straight by balancing my goals and values when finding a career that’s right for me and how to properly execute having a successful career,” Jimenez said.

While Jimenez still has a few years to go before she accepts an offer for her first job, the Warrington Career Week experience has put her on the path to success. 

“I can confidently say that I virtually walked out of Warrington Career Week feeling more prepared for my future than before I started,” she said. “I cannot wait to see what the next three years of Warrington Career Week have in store to teach me!”