Truman Annual Career Expo 2025 Designed To Offer Student Opportunities

The annual Career and Graduate School Expo hosted by the Career Center offered students with possible employment opportunities and career advancements.

The Graduate School Expo was held Sept. 24, with the Career Expo on the following day. The two days of events were both organized by the Career Center and Alison Ayers, the Center’s Executive Director.

“Both are designed to help you connect with opportunities for your future, but each has a different focus,” Ayers said. “Career expos give you valuable in-person interactions, whether you are talking with employers about internships and jobs, or exploring graduate programs to learn what different schools have to offer.”

Several companies at the events said they offer a wide range of opportunities, including HR, IT business management and accounting, student teaching, conservation and police work. Many employers were seeking interns and employees.

Callie Koch, with the curriculum department of Jefferson City public schools, spoke on what the district was looking for with Expo attendance.

“We’re always looking for more educators,” Koch said. “People in IT, the data field, the marketing department, the HR department–just any interest is what we’re looking for.”

The expo benefited students in a range from current job searches and paid internship opportunities to establishing connections for the future.

Graduate student Andrew Richter said he attended to look for job opportunities after connecting with a summer internship at a past career expo.

“[I’ve connected with] a couple of officers at that company, a few neighbors whose company has come to this expo, a couple of company VPs, one or two company presidents, a lot of high-level executives I’ve been able to meet,” Richter said.”I have a couple connections at Boeing now, a number of accounting firms in St. Louis and KC, a couple industry firms, a couple banks, I’ve gotten connections in a bunch of different areas of accounting through the expo.”

Not all attendees were searching for jobs. Some gleaned benefits by learning about the different career paths or establishing future plans.

Sophomore accounting major Lily Giasomo gained a better understanding of opportunities she may reach out to in the future.

“I’m not totally sure what I want to do with accounting, so I’m getting different perspectives on the different paths I can go,” Giasomo said.

After the expo, students may have scheduled interviews or follow-ups with employers, or are simply curious to hold onto this year’s expo information. A full list of employers is available on Handshake, and the Career Center schedules one-on-one assistance with students to create LinkedIn profiles, review resumes or work on interview and follow-up skills. The Career Center also has online resources like resume templates and regularly updating information.

“After the Expo, take time to send a connection request to the employers you interacted with,” Ayers said. “A great way to make that connection stronger is to include a short personal message mentioning something you discussed or a helpful tip they shared. That kind of follow-up goes a long way in starting to build your professional network.”