April 30, 2008
ORLANDO, Fla. (www.ucfathletics.com) - To help prepare current Knights for life after college, UCF Athletics held its inaugural Student-Athlete Career Fair in early April. The event inside the Roth Tower at Bright House Networks Stadium was held as part of a career development series for student-athletes.
Thirteen companies, plus representatives from the UCF Career Services Resource Center, attended the fair, which was organized by Marcus Sedberry, who works as a graduate assistant for the athletics association.
The Golden Knights Club and associate athletics director/senior woman administrator Jessica Reo assisted with attracting companies to attend the event. Sedberry focused on reaching organizations that already had ties with UCF Athletics and was pleased with the results.
"Our goal was to keep the fair small in order to give the student-athletes and the companies an opportunity to meet each other and develop a relationship that could possibly lead into a job or internship," he said. "We plan to expand the event and have more companies and student-athletes involved. We plan to make the career fair an annual event and hope that it prepares to continue our student-athletes for life beyond collegiate athletics."
Companies in attendance included Boy Scouts of America, Bright House Networks, FAIRWINDS Credit Union, Morgan Stanley, Regions Bank and Sysco Foods. Dan Cross, the founder of Orlando-based Athlete Connections also met with student-athletes. Athlete Connections is a non-profit organization designed to assists student-athletes in transitioning from college into the workforce.
Sixty student-athletes from all classes attended the career fair. The event was preceded by four resume building/career exploration workshops in March. Student-athletes went through two hours of mock interviews with UCF staff members, including director of athletics Keith R. Tribble, executive associate athletics director David Chambers, senior associate athletics director Dr. Steve Angelucci and Reo.