April 28, 2008

SAN MARCOS - On April 3, nearly 100 Texas State student-athletes gathered with in the Sac-N-Pac room of the End Zone Complex for the first annual Texas State Student Athlete Career Fair.

The career fair featured an assortment of businesses, including Fortune 500 companies like Pfizer and Sprint Nextel. Junior and senior student-athletes were invited to talk with company representatives about post-graduate opportunities and learn about the job application process. In all, 15 companies attended the career fair as well as representatives from both the Texas State Graduate College and Texas State Career Services also attended.

"The career fair held at the Sac-N-Pac Room was a great help," said senior football player John Gilley. "I met some prospective employers and got an idea of what I need to accomplish in my last year of school, and I was also able to make some great contacts for the future about internships and employment."

The night also provided an opportunity for student-athletes to engage employers and experience a well-structured event that does not always fit into busy schedules filled with things like practices, travel, study hours and games.

"I was kind of nervous before I went because I'd never been to anything like that before, but everyone was really supportive," said junior women's soccer player Rikki Padia. It was neat how the companies understood that my time was mostly spent with my team and not trying to find a full-time job. They understood the time commitment with soccer and respected it."

"Athletes don't really have a chance to do things that other students can do because of practices and other stuff, so it was good to have a time set aside for us where we could go," said junior basketball player Dylan Moseley.

Amy Hromadka of Eli Lilly and Company also enjoyed getting to meet student-athletes she feels will make excellent potential job candidates.

"It gave these student athletes the opportunity to see what employers want in a candidate to work for them," said Hromadka. "Our company likes people who are competitive, have a good work ethic and are able to maintain their academics as well, so that's why we came to the career fair. Athletes are born to be competitive."

Hromadka also has first-hand knowledge of the transition student-athletes must make after graduation into the corporate world. She was an All-Southland Conference softball player for the Bobcats in 2006 and still has her name etched in the Texas State record books.

"I was excited that we were able to meet real student-athletes who could see what I'm doing and see what other opportunities are out there for them," said Hromadka. "I know when I was in softball, I never really had time during my last year to really focus on finding a job and what was next after school. So it's a good opportunity to know what to expect and see what they need to do to get themselves a job after college."