On-campus job fairs lack career diversity


With the beginning of the new semester comes the annual Spring Career Fair. For many students close to graduating and seeking out jobs, the career fair is an opportunity to meet with recruiters to discuss open positions, interview, exchange resumes and network. However, if one is seeking a career that is not within the realms of business or finance, then the career fair may be limited with what it can offer in terms of a recruiting platform. 

The career fair lacks job diversity as the majority of companies that attend are geared toward students in the Marshall School of Business or the Leventhal School of Accounting. While this is a great networking opportunity for those students, others whose career interests are not within that realm are excluded. USC prides itself on being a well-known and respected university within the arts and entertainment industry, but that’s not evident at the career fairs. 

Where are the big media and entertainment companies such as Netflix, Hulu, Spotify, BuzzFeed or Vice? According to LinkedIn, Netflix has more than 300 former Trojans working there, so why is it difficult to invite someone to host a table at the career fair? Hulu has more than 100 employees in the USC network, while Spotify and Buzzfeed have more than 70 combined. The point is that the Trojan Network is strong but it’s not being well represented at the career fairs. These companies are just a few of the many that should be more present alongside others. 

Based on ConnectSC, employers for this spring’s fair primarily involve business and finance related opportunities with attendance from AuditBoard, CoreVest Finance, Farmers Insurance, Signature Consultants, PennyMac and Oracle among others. Yes, business and finance are popular majors at USC and have large student populations, but these fields don’t encompass all interests. 

Graduates often martriculate into the tech industry, and even those companies rarely appear at the career fair in as large numbers as others. Where is Google, Facebook, Apple, or Intel? Sure, Google might have come last Fall to host a Trojan Talk, but that does not offer the intimacy and networking opportunities present at the career fairs where students get the opportunity to actually speak with recruiters and hand over a resume. Most of the time, Trojan Talks get so impacted when a big name company visits that they hit capacity, barring some students from attending. 

Students can greatly benefit from having the networking opportunities that USC offers, but this offer needs to be extended to all majors, not just one or two. USC is big in journalism, media, entertainment and tech alongside business and accounting. But the platform does not invite companies from all of these industries for recruiting opportunities. USC needs to take more initiative in being more inclusive of all career interests.