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Business leaders advise students on future

Prospective employers speak to business


The second annual Warren and Pat Carmichael College of Business and Public Affairs Career Week was held last week.

The main events were a career fair on Tuesday and a variety of guest speakers on Wednesday.

The career fair, held in the Boling University Center, consisted of over 75 potential employees. Juniors and seniors were asked to submit resumes prior to the event. Their resumes were published in a book and distributed to interested businesses.

“I was very excited about the career fair. It was so convenient to be able to walk into the UC and meet with potential employers,” said Anna Laura Boyd, a senior business management major. “With school in session, it’s really hard to find the time to research jobs, and with graduation only two months away, it’s imperative that we seniors make this a priority.”

This year, the campus-wide career fair joined together with the CBPA career fair. Students from almost every major at UTM had the opportunity to research job prospects or even set up interviews.

Lindsey Hill, a UTM graduate, was at the career fair representing Tipton County Schools. “This was a really good opportunity for us to reach out to students and let them know about job openings in our school system,” said Hill.

Fifteen guest speakers spoke to CBPA students on Wednesday. Frank Gibson, plant manager of Parker Hannifin in Greenfield spoke about manufacturing. He gave a realistic account of the threat of international competition that students will face in the job market.

Hollie Holt, coordinator of the Regional Entrepreneurship and Economic Development Center (REED), spoke to a standing-room only crowd. Her topic was “Internships and the Real World.”

Other speakers included Lee Bowling, Laura Suiter, Joey Croom, Norman French and Tommy Legens, all UTM graduates. Their topics ranged from marketing and entrepreneurship to accounting and finance and the opportunities in the job market for these majors.

Attorney Dale Allen spoke to students regarding law, government and military opportunities, and UTM professor Stan Seiber shared information about opportunities available through the UTM International Travel Study Program in his lecture, “Expand Your Horizons.”

Teena Bynum, coordinator for the events, said, “The week was a huge success. We had positive feedback on our student evaluations, and I feel that our students carried away valuable information about the job market.”