By Jonathan Togstad
Students speak with employers about learning and job opportunities at the Health Care Job Fair at CC last month. The job fair is hosted on campus each year.
The Health Care Job Fair is an important annual event for people in the health care field and to those studying health science programs at Casper College. The college has hosted the Health Care Job Fair for at least 10 years according to the Dean of Health Science Dino Madsen. The fair continues to provide opportunities for students going into the medical field. Madsen said the purpose of the job fair is two-fold — to expose health science students to employers and show the level of professionalism expected out in the field. He added that navigating private industry as a recent graduate can be difficult despite the knowledge base students acquired in school. The Health Care Job Fair exposes students to the requirements of transitioning to private industry.
“There is an acclimation there where we go from education to private industry. And I think that showcasing our students to our private industry partners and letting them all work together helps with that transition,” said Madsen.
The Health Care Job Fair is not only beneficial for students seeking a career in the industry, but also for employers looking for CC students. This year, 38 employers and businesses attended the event in an effort to make students aware of the many career paths the organizations provide. Lindee Zespy, a recruiter and representative for Banner Health, said the hospital is fortunate to have a relationship with CC and its students. Banner offers many opportunities to students, including shadowing and ambulance ride-alongs.
Zespy said Banner Health and other organizations participating in the job fair are vital for student’s growth in the field of health care.
“I think one of the things that sometimes can be hard is if someone’s maybe not gotten the opportunity to maybe have that exposure,” Zespy said. “Part of what we want to do here (at the job fair) is talking about all of the different opportunities — there’s different ways to be in health care.”
A few employers seek out students directly. A representative from Sidney Regional Medical Center, said she was at the job fair to find students from the respiratory program. They noted the difficulty of finding respiratory therapists, especially for a small hospital, and said they saw the job fair as a way to connect with students. This is the first year the medical center located in Nebraska attended the Health Care Job Fair, which demonstrates the interest in and potential careers for CC health science students across the country.
Among the many employment and hands-on learning opportunities, the job fair also gives students the ability to network with members of the health care field. Tina Ogletree, who is a representative from Wind River Family and Community Health Care, said that networking in the health care field is vital to new graduates’ success.
“In the grand scheme of things, it’s really a small community. Especially in Wyoming…I’ve actually run into people that I worked on the east coast with out here,” Ogletree said.
In addition to networking, the fair provided support programs for students looking into their futures. Casper College’s Career Service department assisted students in resume creation and elevator pitches to future employers. Christina Vencil, a social work instructor from the University of Wyoming, spoke to students interested in transferring. She said UW provides work study positions to students, as it is hard to juggle earning an income whilst studying at the same time. Dress for Success, a nonprofit that assists women in finding clothes for the workplace, also attended the event. The nonprofit located in downtown Casper runs off of donations.
“There’s enough reasons that people can’t do what they want to do, and clothing should not be one of those things,” said Dress for Success Executive Director Amy White.
White said students struggle to pay for their education along with other needs, and she hopes Dress for Success can alleviate the need for clothing. White said the nonprofit has attended the last three job fairs and plans to participate in many more. She hopes students will learn that Dress for Success is a resource they can utilize if they are in need of clothing, including scrubs for nursing students.
White stated, “I believe that you only have that one chance to make an impression.”
The event positively impacted students, especially the possibilities in health care and careers available to them. Kealanie Lamb is studying radiology at CC, she stated the event is important to her, as it allows her to see what opportunities are available in Casper and Wyoming.
“I think learning about the opportunities that are available in the community and even surrounding communities is important. It’s nice to have it all in one place,” said Lamb.
The Health Care Job Fair offers many opportunities to health science students from employment to networking and hands-on learning with some of the most important players in the Wyoming health care field, as well as others from across the country. The event aids employers and students in finding the next steps forward in the health care field.