An international career fair is in the works for MSU this fall on Wednesday, Sept. 30.
The event is spearheaded by MSU’s Broad China Business Society and aims to give the thousands of international students at MSU a career fair that better suits them than the ones currently in place.
Executive Vice President of the Broad China Business Society Alex Qi, a native of China, said the idea first came to him when he learned from a friend attending Purdue University that they had an international career fair of their own.
“I was thinking, if Purdue can do it, we can do it as well,’” Qi said.
Qi said a big part of needing an international career fair stems from many American companies not fully understanding the complexities of Curricular Practical Training and Optional Practical Training, so they’re hesitant to hire international students for fear of paying extra money to sponsor their employment.
Thus, the BCBS has gone to work the last several months partnering with MSU Career Services Network, the Lear Corporation Career Services Center and several international organizations at MSU to make the career fair a reality.
As of now, Qi said the plan is to have a two-part fair on Sept. 30 -- a virtual fair for overseas companies to recruit international students online and subsequently interview them over the phone or online, and an onsite fair from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. at Breslin Center.
Prior to the fair, however, Qi said there are two pre-events scheduled to take place to help international students prepare for the career fair. The first event is scheduled for Sept. 8 at 7 p.m. and will feature a keynote speaker giving a presentation to students on how to prepare things like a job interview, resume, cover letter or LinkedIn profile.
And on Sept. 14 at 7 p.m., the BCBS will host a resource fair, where students will be given hands-on advice on how to construct their resumes and cover letters.
As of now, Qi said it’s been a challenge to get companies to sign up for the onsite fair. However, no matter the outcome, he said this year’s fair should be looked at as a success.
“Since this is the first year, it’s pretty hard,” Qi said. “We will see the result by the end of September. Hopefully at least we can host a virtual fair ... but we are thinking ... this is like a long term investment. You have to do it many times and then after probably three or four years, you can see the result, because if we can hold international career fairs successfully, that will be a motivation for international students to be better.”
