The Fashion Career Fair held its third annual fashion fair on Wednesday, Oct. 9, enticing fashion majors and minors with potential job and internship opportunities.
According to Gonzalo Guzman, an advisor at the Career Center who helped organize the event, this is the third fashion-specific job fair hosted at Columbia
Taking place on the first floor of the Student Center, the fair coincided with Chicago Fashion Week, which opened later Wednesday night at the Chicago Cultural Center.
Sophia Klun, a senior fashion studies major, helped with the Chicago Fashion Coalition booth.
“We’re here to kind of provide visibility and offer students a few opportunities that they can either volunteer in or shows or events that they can go to because fashion week is starting today,” Klun said.
The event brought in companies looking to recruit students and alum, giving them a chance to explore the industry and connect with potential employers. The fair began at 11 a.m. and went until 1 p.m. Students had to register via Engage.
The event featured over 10 employers looking to hire for a variety of roles, including internships, part-time jobs and full-time positions. Some employers that attended include Aritzia, Cintas, Kohls, Lab Artists and Madewell. Each employer had their own booth and handouts with more contact information.
“Putting a face to your application is invaluable to set you apart in an extremely competitive job market,” said Guzman, the career and internship advisor. “It also allows students to ask questions about company culture, career pathways, and what makes a competitive applicant.”
Courtney Ecton, a senior manager of talent acquisition at Aritzia attended the event because Aritzia is looking for “top talent” to flagship their new location opening on Michigan Avenue in the Loop.
“We’re hoping to connect with like-minded individuals that want to pursue a career in retail,” Ecton said. “There’s a lot of excitement with everything that’s going on, and it’s good to connect with the community.”
Abby Endres, the director of One Management in Chicago, also attended. Endres is a Columbia alum, and a lot of their interns are from the college.
“We’ve just had a really positive experience with getting introduce students into the industry, whether or not they wanna become an agent or a photographer, or whether people wanna model or get into styling and that kind of thing,” Endres said.
Fredo Medina, a senior fashion merchandising major, went into the event with no expectations for himself but said he wanted to see what the companies had to offer. After talking to a few agencies, Medina found some companies that he wanted to send in resumes for.
“I think this event is really cool,” Medina said. “It’s a good opportunity for all the students at Columbia, to get their names out there, kind of network. This is my first career fair. I’ve never been to one, but honestly, it’s such a good opportunity.”
Mickayla Khantivong, a junior fashion studies major, said the overall vibe was “beautiful and optimistic,” noting that it was a really welcoming atmosphere.
Another event attendee, Ella Stuteville, a sophomore fashion studies major, went to the career fair to network with fashion brands and agencies so she can build her connections.
In the future, Stuteville said she wants to have her own clothing brand, so she was looking for jobs in order to gain retail experience.
Fashion design junior, Max Marino was able to talk to many of the different companies in attendance. However, he said it would have been nice to have a larger range of companies in attendance.
“I mean, not to be too critical, but still, I would love to see more companies here,” Marino said. “There’s a lot of good options, and I know there’s a lot of fashion students, and it would be cool to have even more.”
Copy edited by Manuel Nocera
