The annual fall job and internship fair is one of the greatest opportunities for Bradley students to add professional experience to their resumes and portfolios.
Employers from across Central Illinois fill the Renaissance Coliseum, eager to connect with students who could be the future of their companies. The fair is an excellent way for students to learn how to conduct themselves in professional environments, make connections and get their name in front of recruiters in their fields of interest.
Unless they’re a communications major. Or a fine arts major. Or studying English, history, biology, cybersecurity, natural or political science. Just to name a few.
In that case, a student’s opportunities are much slimmer.
The internship and job fair is a great resource, but in the future, it must be executed more inclusively to provide opportunities for a wider range of students. This is especially important because many underrepresented majors and career paths make up a significant portion of Bradley’s student body.
Business and engineering majors made up a quarter of the university’s majors last year, so it makes sense for them to have a strong presence at the fair every year.
So why don’t the communications, fine arts, liberal arts and sciences majors, who make up 33.1 percent of the total population in 2025, have even more opportunities?
Students in other majors shouldn’t have to strain their eyes searching a long list of employers for the handful of opportunities relevant to them – especially in a job market that is already difficult for recent graduates to navigate.
For journalism and sports communication or management students in particular, whose industries have faced an increasingly difficult employment landscape, Bradley doesn’t have to revolutionize their strategy. Bringing back a Slane College of Communications and Fine Arts-specific career fair, like the one offered before COVID-19, would help level the playing field without taking opportunities away from students.
It would simply ensure that students pursuing other careers are given more opportunities of their own.
