“(Applications for this fair are) open to anybody in the Greater Lansing area, and it doesn’t matter the industry, or they have to be fully remote,” Newman said. “It’s so students can stay on campus and not drive too far during the school year.” 

One of those local employers was the Eaton County Road Commission, whose booth was run by MSU engineering alumnus Lauren Doerr. Doerr first attended the Local Job and Internship Fair four years ago as a student, where she discovered the Eaton County Road Commission. Yesterday, she was back at the fair representing them as the assistant county engineer. 

“As a public industry, we can’t justify spending money on recruiting and advertising, so we go to low-cost fairs like this with high exposure,” Doerr said.

Compared to last year, Doerr “brought more flashy things” to the booth, such as a newly made high-visibility vest sporting the organization’s logo. However, the biggest eye-catcher was the remote-controlled robot that collects data points.

“I bought (the robot) because it was big and loud and I probably looked silly playing with it, but it got people to come over and talk to us,” Doerr said. “This is the most interaction we’ve had in a while.”

Booths had interested students sign a form through QR codes. Near the end of the fair, Doerr believed she and the two MSU student interns manning the booth had garnered at least 15 interest forms.

Another employer at the event was Jen Somerville, the business manager for South Campus Animal Farms. This year marked her first time at the fair. 

While South Campus Animal Farms employs 30-plus students every school year, according to Somerville, this year they seek students to fill two new positions — student ambassadors to lead tours around the farms — since current farm managers have too much on their schedule to fill this popular demand. 

Their booth didn’t readily have merchandise with their name or logo, so Somerville said she “got resourceful." The day of the fair, she visited the dairy farm to pick up some items, like flyers and cow print tablecloth and she repurposed the business office’s sign that read "COME ON IN!"

Even though Somerville would “be more prepared next time,” she still said the fair was successful, not only for her, but also the other organizations and student attendees. Somerville said at least 30 students filled out their questionnaires from a variety of majors: animal science, zoology, communication, education, business, engineering and even one theater major.

“I’ve mostly been learning from (the students) and what kind of experiences they’re looking for and what we can do to help them … in their career path,” Somerville said. “This was a test run for us, but I would do it again.”

Accounting junior Jibran Babar was one of the student attendees. His goal for the fair was to find banks, accounting firms and automotive companies, but he said most of those organizations weren’t present. 

“I hoped there would be more finance-related booths there,” Babar said. “I think this was more aimed at sales and management.”

Instead, he talked to DTN Management Company, Consumers Credit Union, Jackson, Aflac Insurance Coverage and most other booths.

“(The employers) all seemed knowledgeable,” Babar said. “I learned about career fairs … and I already signed up for a couple more upcoming fairs.”