UIS presents Project Success: Dress to Impress

WHAT: The University of Illinois Springfield will host “Project Success: Dress to Impress” as part of the annual Springfest celebration on campus. Project Success is a runway fashion show that displays how to dress for business casual and business professional.

WHEN: Wednesday, April 14, 2010 from 9:30 p.m. to 11:00 p.m.

WHERE: Student Life Building (SLB) Gymnasium on the UIS campus

DETAILS: Through fun and fashion, the audience will get a sense of how to dress for professional interaction and career daily wear, while learning which kinds of fashion flops to avoid.

UIS students have been invited to form teams and compete by showing their best and worst examples of business attire. The runway show will be judged by the audience and a panel of judges. Nina Wright from Western and Southern Financial Group and Sharon Thornton Knop, a UIS alumnus, from State Farm will return as this year’s judges and be joined by a member of the Capitol Radio Group. Tim Burns from Prudential, an employer partner with the UIS Career Development Center, will act as emcee for the evening. The winning team will be awarded a prize of $600.

Project Success is sponsored by UIS Career Development Center, UIS Office of Alumni Relations, and Student Government Association. It will be available via live Webcast for online students and those who are unable to attend.

The event is free and open to the public. For more information, contact Rachel Hasenyager or Gale Kilbury at 217/206-6508. A complete list of Springfest events is available at www.uis.edu/sga/sac/Springfest.html.

Collegiate Career Fair brings hundreds of job seekers to UIS

Students from the University of Illinois Springfield and three other colleges were treated to a one-stop-shop in finding a job during the 12th annual Springfield Collegiate Career Fair.

The event was held on Thursday, February 18, 2010, in the Public Affairs Center lobby on the UIS campus. The career fair brought in representatives from approximately 100 area employers, along with approximately 400 students and alumni.

“It’s a really good way to network with about 100 different people in a very short period of time,” said Tammy Craig, Career Services Director.

Beyond information about actual job openings, the fair is designed to provide an open information exchange about different organizations, hiring trends and the best routes to future opportunities.

“I thought this would be a great time to get a practice run at a career fair and also just get experience talking with recruiters from companies,” said Vernon Cail, UIS graduate student in Public Health.

Cail hasn’t decided what he wants to do after graduation, but came to the fair looking for government jobs. Other students like UIS junior accounting major Dara Abina came to the fair with a single goal in mind, to find their dream job.

“We’re in economic times where a lot of people really don’t have jobs and people are coming out here to offer jobs. It’s just an amazing experience,” said Abina.

The UIS Career Development Center has been working with students to prepare them for the fair, so they’d know what to expect. That still couldn’t take away all the nerves.

“It’s kind of like a rush because when you walk up to a table you really don’t know what to say, but it just comes out the right way,” said Abina.

Plans are already in the works for next year’s Collegiate Career Fair, which is a partnership between UIS, Lincoln Land Community College, Robert Morris College and Springfield College in Illinois/Benedictine University.

For more information about the Collegiate Career Fair, go online to www.uis.edu/careerservices.

UIS hosts fair that helps students continue education

The University of Illinois Springfield Career Development Center and Office of Alumni Relations hosted the second annual UIS Graduate and Professional School Fair on Thursday, November 5, 2009 in the PAC concourse.

The event brought 31 graduate and professional schools from Illinois and the Midwest to the UIS campus.

“We’re having this because many of our students as undergrads are trying to decide what they’re going to do after graduation and what is required to meet their career goals,” said Gale Kilbury, UIS Career Counselor.

The fair allowed students to meet with many representatives at once and gain valuable information in a short amount of time.

“Definitely having them all here in one location is more efficient for us students than having to contact them all via e-mail or trying to go to all the schools and have an orientation,” said Teela Whyte, UIS senior social work major.

Kilbury says having a graduate degree will increase student’s marketability and help them land a better job in the career path they choose.

For more information contact Gale Kilbury in the UIS Career Development Center at 217/206-6508 or gkilb01s@uis.edu.