CLEVELAND, Ohio — Northeast Ohio employers hope college students home for the holidays will start their winter break with an eye on their careers. The Cleveland Leadership Center, in collaboration with the Cleveland Talent Alliance, is hosting a career and internship fair.
The event will start at 10:30 a.m. Monday with a keynote address from Cuyahoga County executive Chris Ronayne, followed by breakout sessions to develop skills like networking, interviewing, and self-promotion. Attendees will then have the opportunity to have lunch with local leaders to learn more about prospective career fields.
After lunch, dozens of employers from the private, public, and non-profit sectors will present opportunities in a career and internship fair.
“We’re here to create your possible of what you want to do in your career. It’s up to you,” said Megan Curran, an ARD HR specialist at Sherwin-Williams. “You’re a student, you’re early on in your career trying to decide what you want to do. It might be difficult, but we’re here to try to outline some different areas and opportunities that you might not have realized you want to get into.”
Companies like Sherwin-Williams have invested in northeast Ohio in recent years. Two new facilities are under construction, which the paint company says will eventually add at least 400 jobs to the local economy. Like others, Sherwin-Williams is also banking on a workforce willing to fill the new positions.
Monday’s career fair is one of the first events hosted by the Cleveland Talent Alliance. Nearly a dozen organizations and other entities formed the collaborative group in 2022 to recruit and retain talent in Northeast Ohio.
Since the 1950s, Cleveland’s population has been declining. The rate of population loss has slowed in recent years. But once the fifth largest U.S. city, Cleveland has since been passed by 32 other growing cities.
“The Talent Alliance is really doing the work to change that. In particular, through attracting, but really retaining the talent we already have here. So if we can get them to not leave in the first place, then we don’t have to worry as much about bringing them back,” said Nicole Canitano, the director of college and young professional programs at the Cleveland Leadership Center.
Registration for the morning keynote and workshops has already been filled, but students are welcome to walk into the career and internship fair. It starts at 2 p.m. at the Student Center at Cleveland State University (2121 Euclid Ave).
You can find more information about the career fair, registration, and the Cleveland Leadership Center by clicking on this link.
