Recruitment Fair Brings out Students for Employment Opportunities

By Jake Jenkins

Feb. 21, 2023

Rachelle Madison, Kevin Simmons, Mackenzie Bailey, Harsh Patel (left to right)

More than 50 employers attended the annual recruitment fair at Michigan State’s College of Law Feb. 10 to find potential candidates for summer internships and possible full-time employment.

For the last two years the recruitment fair has not been in-person due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Recruiters from areas such as law firms, courts, government and corporations were in attendance.

“We’ve been having this fair for the past 15 years with the primary purpose of helping our students find summer positions,” said Michelle Mitchell, the assistant director of Employer and Alumni Relations. “We’re also helping employers find students. They have multiple positions and have a hard time filling them and historically need help.”

Many recruiters look forward to these events, to find new groups of talent and speak with them face to face and exchange important information.

“Things are always changing in the legal field,” said Lindsay Poetz, ’20, attorney and management analyst at the Michigan Supreme Court. “We’re looking for young people with diverse backgrounds and more to offer the legal community.”

Olivia Dimithe, ’16, assistant general counsel at AF Group in Lansing, knows first-hand how beneficial the recruiting fair at MSU Law can be for someone’s career.

“I was at the fair as a student in 2015,” she said. “I ended up getting an internship and was hired full-time by my employer now and have been with them for the past eight years.”

Summer internships are highly competitive and are not easy to come by for some students. This event Is an opportunity for students to display themselves in real-time and share their thoughts and achievements in person rather than applying online.

“It’s just good to let these employers know who I am and to get out my resume,” said Kevin Simmons, ’25. “I want to make sure to get my name out there and make connections even if I do not get a job out of this.”

A majority of the students in attendance are first-year students and this experience can be overwhelming for some.

“I was very anxious coming here so I felt like I over prepared,” said Selita Paea, ’25. “It’s been really good, and my classmates and I have been running into each other giving each other pointers throughout the day which helped.”