EWU’s first Internship and Volunteer Fair on Oct. 7 from 11 a.m. – 2 p.m. in Hargreaves Hall was full of opportunity for both students and the 37 local organizations that attended. It was a joint event put on by Career Services and the Office of Community Engagement.

Every year the Office of Community Engagement has a career fair. According to Employer relations manager, Nate Bryant, many students have said they would like to see career services put on a fair earlier in the year, and hopefully something involving more internships, so that’s what they did.

There were paid, unpaid and for-credit opportunities for students of all majors through the broad range of organizations that attended the fair. Popular organizations included EWU’s ROTC, College Pro, Hospice of Spokane, KHQ, Mobius, the Spokane County Regional Animal Protection Service (SCRAPS) and the Northwest Museum of Art and Culture.

Romeal Watson, Internship Coordinator, felt the event was a success, despite some complaints he encountered.

“Overall most felt it either met or exceeded [students’] expectations, but students would have liked to see more of a variety of employers,” he said. “In addition, the location was a little out of the way and I think many would have preferred a more central location like the PUB (which unfortunately had been reserved well into the summer). Also some would have liked more prep on how to prepare for a career.”

Some students did find the Internship and Volunteer Fair to be a helpful and wide-ranging event that provided the opportunity to network and get information from several different organizations.

Elezaveta Mikheyeba, a student pursuing a career in social work, said she liked all the different internship opportunities and was most interested in working with YMCA of the Inland Northwest while student Afaria McKinney said it was a great place to network and that he plans on following up with two groups in particular about opportunities. Students who missed the event this year might like to know there will be more opportunities throughout this year, as well as another Internship Fair planned for next year.