ONU Career Fair

Regardless of if it’s your first career fair or fifth, it is still nerve-wracking leading up to it. You practice your elevator pitch, print off your resume and most importantly dress for success. I always go in with a “here goes nothing” attitude. Although you can research the businesses before the event, there is only so much you can learn from their website and LinkedIn. I think talking with the representative is a much better way to learn about the company culture, business values and jobs available.

My classes had gotten canceled Friday morning so I could attend the career fair. That was nice and relieved a little bit of stress. I grabbed my name tag and walked into the Dicke College of Business atrium to start mingling with the recruiters. My goal was to at least introduce myself to all of them because even if I wasn’t interested in the position that company had available, you never know what connections they might have.

I talked to a representative from a hospital, insurance company, solar energy company, gym and real estate investor company. It was neat to learn about each company and talk to the different recruiters, however the real estate investor company really sparked my interest.

This company is called Small Nation and their mission is to develop places, spaces and dreams for small towns and small-town entrepreneurs across the country. In other words, they go into town that are lifeless and partner with passionate entrepreneurs to revive the city. They renovate the boarded-up building and offer marketing and business consulting to the entrepreneurs that are starting businesses in the buildings they renovate.

Small Nation started in Bellefontaine and has since created a model that is changing small towns across the nation. While talking with the recruiter, she was impressed with how much experience I had at 19-years-old and mentioned having me give a presentation to their board about what I have accomplished and how they can partner with me. I am currently working on setting a meeting up and am anxious to see what opportunities arise from it. Moral of the story, just when you think you have finally figured out what you want to do, you never know what better opportunity might be waiting around the corner. There is nothing wrong with changing directions as opportunities come.