A review of the annual UAS Job Fair

By KORTNEY STEVENS

Staff Writer, UAS Whalesong

Thirty-four organizations participated in the spring 2019 University of Alaska Southeast Job Fair this year. Students walked around lines of tables talking to representatives from different companies to potentially find a job. 

Deborah Rydman is Career Services Coordinator and Veteran Affairs Certifying Official at UAS. She has hosted the Job Fair for the last six years. She said about 35 to 37 employers attend each year and about 100 students file through to meet them. UAS has had this job fair for the last 15 years. 

“We have employers that are anxious to meet and hire college students and since we are the only University in Southeast Alaska and the main campus for UAS, employers come here to hire college students,” Rydman said. “That’s the advantage of the Job Fair, is students will secure jobs by talking to a few employers and they are good to go for the summer.” 

Several whale watching, helicopter and guiding companies were there to hire students for the upcoming summer tourism season.  

NorthStar Helicopters Tourist Supervisor Pualei Galletes said the company “thrives off of job fairs.” This was Gallete’s sixth year at the UAS Job Fair and they hire about five to ten new employees from this event every year. 

“It’s very hard to hire locals in Alaska and we like to give everybody the opportunity locally before we hire out, so we love job fairs because it’s a good way to get us out there and meet new people,” Galletes said. 

Sarah Roguska graduated from UAS spring of 2017 with a BLA in English and Art. She is currently working as a recruiter for the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities. 

“A lot of my job has to do with trying to get people into jobs and I’ve noticed that a lot of people just don’t know that there are these jobs out there, so it was a good opportunity to come into the colleges and make that known,” Roguska said. 

The next UAS job fair is spring of 2020. 

Rydman can help students with résumés, cover letters, interviewing skills, and finding jobs and internships. Career Services is in room 102 of the lower level of the Mourant building. Students can make an appointment by calling the Student Resource Center at 907-796-6000 anytime Monday through Friday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Appointments are available Monday through Friday between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m.