OPINIONS
SINCE 1944
Colin Ahern, Opinions Editor » thecampus.opinions@gmail.com
The Bishop’s annual career fair
Eva Rachert - News Editor
O
n Thursday, Feb. 9, Bishop’s Career and Transition Services hosted a career fair in the Gait. The event was one of several in recent months meant to help students build connections with future employers, and followed the Project Incubator, which was intended to help students host events and start clubs on campus. Another recent careerrelated event was a conference for international students to find work while at Bishop’s. The career fair, which opened at 9:30 a.m. and continued on until 4:30 p.m., saw students from a variety of departments connecting with different potential employers. While the employers were primarily based in the Townships region or elsewhere in Québec, the positions offered were both in-person and online, allowing for students from different regions to make connections. In attendance were several local school boards and independent schools, including the Central Québec School Board and Stanstead College. The school boards spoke primarily with students completing
their Bachelors in Education, encouraging them to consider English-language teaching after graduation. In addition, a local children’s camp was recruiting for summer positions. Students looking for full-time employment after they graduated had a plethora of options, while students looking for part-time work could connect with communications and recruitment firms looking for interns. Bishop’s University itself was well-represented at the Careers Fair. The Student Recruitment Office was hiring for Student Ambassadors for the upcoming 2023-2024 school year, providing easy part-time options for students looking to
work without over-committing themselves on campus. The communications office was also looking for students to work parttime over the summer, in social media and advertising, providing remote options for work. Students looking to stay in Lennoxville over the summer could find positions in Buildings and Grounds, which was hiring landscapers and painters, or in Residence Accommodation and Event Services, which was hiring for a variety of positions in cooking, laundry and cleaning and customer service. Ultimately, the career fair saw over a dozen businesses from
Why we need more things like Project Incubator
a breadth of fields and locations arrive at Bishop’s for students to connect with. Networking opportunities like these provide students with the potential to build a strong career when they graduate and to gain a better understanding of the options afforded to them through their field of study. Most of the businesses represented at the career fair were accounting and marketing firms, as well as public school systems. The next networking opportunity on campus was a brand-building workshop also held at the Gait on Friday, Feb. 10.
Photos Courtesy of Emily Crunican
Isabelle Callan - Contributor
O
ver Feb. 4 and 5, students
attended a Project Incubator session held in the New Residence. This event worked to detail the necessary foundation for the completion of any project. While the event focused on projects within the Bishop’s community, the event provided the necessary steps to complete any task. I believe that this style of project is invaluable to the Bishop’s community. The hosts navigated the tumultuous waters of uncertainty with clear and straightforward steps. Notably, the days were broken up into much smaller pieces so
that everything was digestible. The topics alternated between concrete and theoretical while maintaining the importance of values and pragmatism. Personally, I found the development of a vision statement to be very helpful. It placed the values that my project was built on as the focal point of my attention, rather than smaller facets of my project. The frequent use of guest speakers and the plurality of networking opportunities also kept the setting informal and easy to engage with. By departing from a more
conventional style of lecturing, Project Incubator was able to encapsulate the aspects of Bishop’s that are most valuable. The weekend left me with a greater sense of belonging in the Bishop’s community and a greater appreciation for the work of my peers who create and maintain organizations on campus. I would strongly urge anyone with any degree of interest to engage with future Residence Life events. Before attending the event, I felt concerned with my level of preparation and often doubted if the Project Incubator would work for me. Since attending, I rea
lize that this workshop is ideal for people like me. Regardless of experience or preparation, there is something for everyone in this event. Based on the style of this event, it is clear that the people running the project care deeply about the Bishop’s community and the development of our culture on campus. The creation of these events since COVID has left me optimistic about Bishop’s. In just two years, campus life has been greatly enriched through the frequent employment of events that encourage new ideas. This proliferation is crucial at this point because the campus is rife with opportunity for new ideas.
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