On Thursday, October 7, Luther hosted its annual Fall Career Fair in person for the first time since 2019. The fair was held in the Peace Dining Room of Dahl Centennial Union, where 134 students and 36 companies and organizations, including ArtHaus, Mayo Clinic, and Kendall Hunt Publishing Co., participated in the event.

Employer Relations Coordinator Joni Rollinger and members of the Luther Career Center set up the Fall Career Fair to help students build connections and relationships with potential employers.

“I think students going to the career fair will be able to gain confidence by directly talking to the employers,” Rollinger said. “It’s all about connection at this stage, and these connections can help them lead successful careers after graduation.”

Many students took the opportunity to meet and engage with employers during the Career Fair. Ana Garcia (‘23) was an attendee of the fair and appreciated the variety of opportunities being offered to students. 

“I was mostly looking for a summer internship, and I found the Four Oaks clinic,” Garcia said. “I thought that the Career Fair was mostly going to be internships and stuff, which is why I came, but a lot of people wanted to hire students full-time. There were people from really far away and really close to Luther, they were offering jobs all over the place, not only in Decorah.”

For international students requiring sponsorship to work in the United States, there was a limited number of opportunities. This is because many companies do not sponsor work visas for international students, including many companies who attended the career fair. According to the Director of the Career Center Sarah Crose, this issue is actively being addressed.

“It’s definitely something that we are very aware of,” Crose said. “Whenever we are meeting with employers, one of the first questions we ask them is, ‘do you sponsor international students?’ We are doing some advocate work, as well as trying to internally connect with more employers who do hire international students. We have so many international students who would really be incredible assets to their organizations.”

For those who could not attend the Fall Career Fair, members of the Luther Career Center can assist students and help them find internships and jobs they are interested in. They also have access to a variety of helpful resources on their website https://www.luther.edu/career/job-searching/ and in-person in their office.