Jack Hanson
Equinox Staff
The Safety and Occupational Health Applied Sciences (SOHAS) program held their job and internship fair last Thursday, Feb. 28.
The fair was held in the TDS center on campus with a total of 40 employers attending with jobs and interns available for students. The fair was held from 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and some safety professors cancelled class for students to attend the fair, or offered it as an extra credit assignment.
Hailey DeJesus, a freshman studying safety, was one student attending the fair for a class and has a lot of interest in the safety program,
“Its influenced me a lot. I know people and the classes are so interesting. The coolest thing about the safety program is it’s the only program on campus that offers job fairs,” she said. “So, walking around and talking to everyone as a freshman is very cool because I get to know all the companies, and you get internships, and and by the time you’ve graduated if you’ve been with them for a few years you basically have a job set up. It’s really cool.”
Assistant professor and advisor for the safety program Brian Bethel said that safety is unique and is different from other careers.
“You get to do a lot of different things. Even if you work in the same corporation there are no two days that are alike. I worked in the industry for 35 years before I came here as faculty member, and there were no two days in 35 years that were the same… And the reason it fits with a lot of students is if you want to help people in your career, there is no better place than to make sure that what you do allows mommy and daddy to go home from work safe,” Bethel said.
Bethel also said that the safety program provides students with practical experience in the field that the students choose, and challenges them in ways they haven’t been before. He also said that in September, the SOHAS department held another job fair where 37 employers attended.
Jacob Pumphret, an alumni and employer for Holder Construction company, stressed the importance of underclassmen attending the event.
“I think it is very important, I graduated last year and got my job from the job fair, and I could probably name ten people off the top of my head who got their job from their job fair. Everyone I was close with in Keene got their jobs from the fair,” Pumphret said. “Passing out resumes, showing you’re interested. Someone who has a couple internships under the belt is going to have that one leg up over someone who is stepping out there for the first time.”
Pumphret also said that employers are looking for students who lead with integrity, have passion and drive, know what they’re looking for and have good communication skills and present themselves in a professional way.
More information about the SOHAS department and majors can be found on the Keene State College home page under academics.
Jack Hanson can be contacted at
jhanson@kscequinox.com.
