At Career Showcase, new venue, new app

At Tuesday’s Career Showcase, some UF students and employers used their smartphones to navigate their way through the newly constructed O’Connell Center.

The event, which continues today from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., is the first to be hosted in the renovated center. Last Fall, it was held in Southwest Recreation Center due to construction. Some participants used the app, called UF Career Services, which gives a layout of the center and gives the location and needs of employers. It’s free for students to download and will include more information from the center by the end of Spring, said Ja’Net Glover, the senior associate director for Career Services.

“We know change can be hard and challenging for all of us with coming into a renovated space,” Glover said. “That’s why we wanted to wait to launch the app.”

Kerri Nauth, a UF business graduate student, said a student told her about the app while she was waiting to meet employers, so she downloaded it.

Nauth, 29, said she’s been to four other career showcases, and the app will be a useful addition in her quest to build relationships with potential employers. However, she said it was somewhat confusing to use.

“It’s not trustworthy,” Nauth said. “It’s not bad, maybe with more use I’ll know it more. It’s 10 times better than using the (directory).”

Glover said fewer students will attend the event this semester, compared to Fall, when about 100 more employers come to recruit.

“You would think it would be opposite because we have more students graduating in the Spring than the Fall, but many companies take the opportunity to really engage campus (in the Fall),” she said.

@taveljimena

jtavel@alligator.org

The first Career Showcase in the newly renovated Stephen C. O'Connell Center drew in many students in January 2017. More than 250 employers showed up for the event.