Virtual Hospitality Career Expo 2021

On Feb. 16, The Collins College and the Career Center hosted the first Virtual Hospitality Career Expo through Handshake, an online application that connects college students and alumni with job and internship opportunities and offers an end-to-end platform for sourcing, engaging, and hiring with talent employers.

Despite this adversely difficult time for the hospitality industry, 31 employers participated in this year’s virtual career expo providing students with some much-needed job-seeking relief.

“This version of the career fair allowed me to talk to recruiters from all over the country and they were all very nice and encouraging, which made me feel at ease,” said Katherine Beatty, hospitality management student.

On Handshake, recruiters spoke with 179 students in either group or one-on-one sessions. During the event, there were 391 one-on-one sessions scheduled and 44 group sessions for students to join and speak with participating companies.

Hospitality Management Council (HMC) president, Irina Grigorian felt she was able to manage her time better and schedule sessions with recruiters accordingly.

“Instead of wandering around the fair and looking for employers, I was able to create a more structured schedule for myself which made the process a lot easier to follow,” said Grigorian.

For the duration of the career expo, HMC student leaders hosted a virtual “Green Room” help desk where they offered drop-in Zoom sessions for students to troubleshoot with Handshake, practice their elevator pitches, discussed talking points, and asked questions before talking to employers.

In previous years, a program called “Best of the Best” allowed each employer to award up to two lapel buttons to the students who put forward their best hospitality spirit. Since physical buttons were not an option this year, these star students will be showcased on the “Wall of Stars” webpage with a Best of the Best designation on The Collins College website.