Virtual career fair results in over 79 scheduled interviews for participants
Johnston Community College’s Bioprocess Technology Department partnered with NC BioNetwork to offer a Fall, 2020 Biotechnology Virtual Career Fair (VCF) on Thursday, November 12th.
This online version of a traditional career fair was an opportunity for JCC BioWork students and alumni to network with hiring professionals in the biopharmaceutical industry. Numerous biopharma companies and staffing agencies participated, including Grifols, Merck, Novo Nordisk, Ajinomoto, Biogen, Guerbet, Catalent, KBI Biopharma, KriGen, Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals, Precision BioSciences, Seqirus, Thermo Fisher, Adecco, Core Staff, Manpower Engineering (FKA Experis), OnBoard USA, and Spectraforce.
JCC’s Roxanne Curry, Career Development Faculty, assisted participants in the live chat Information Booth by answering a wide range of questions, from how to answer specific employer inquiries to helping resolve technology issues. JCC BioWork student Laura Pineda, Clayton, mentioned that Curry “gave me the courage to attend the Fall 2020 VFC, where I connected with recruiters from large pharmaceutical industries. I have had the opportunity for interviews with great companies such as Grifols, Novo Nordisk, Protolabs, Pfizer, and Merck. I find this absolutely incredible!” she said.
The registration process included pre-registration, resume submission for review/eligibility by Curry, and expectations provided by NC BioNetwork. A Priority Status was in place for which many JCC BioWork students and alumni qualified.
Participants interacted with hiring professionals from participating biopharma companies and staffing agencies. Numerous JCC attendees have already completed assessments and interviews for Merck. Merck vowed to fill 50 current openings with only attendees from this VCF. JCC participants are reporting as many as 3 scheduled individual interviews next week with other represented employers.
Diane Zambrano, a JCC BioWork student and career fair participant from Clayton scheduled two interviews directly through the fair. “I am confident I will be working in the industry in no time and am grateful to have been part of this [BioWork] program,” she said.
JCC was represented by nearly 30% of the total number of participants, the largest group of any other college or university. The NC BioNetwork VCF preliminary summary reveals there were a total of 735 unique chat sessions for more than 100 job openings,162 pre-interview screenings completed, and 79 interviews scheduled. JCC will partner with NC BioNetwork for the next Biotechnology VCF tentatively planned for April 2021. Interested employers can visit https://www.ncbionetwork.org/career-fair for information on participating in the next BioNetwork Career Fair.
