MSU invites over 100 employers to give students a promising future

STARKVILLE, Miss. (WCBI) – Seniors at Mississippi State University are on a three-month countdown to graduation – and hopefully, a career.

That’s why this week, Mississippi State University is hosting more than 100 businesses on campus.

This may be the day that changes everything.

Students and businesses are connecting for first-hand experience and maybe even a job after they graduate.

Petroleum firm Ergon has a global reach. But all of that begins with their people.

“It’s a hands-on project management experience we were actually both coops with ergon and definitely if they’ve done well and we find they have a future at ergon and we hire them,” said Ergon employee Allison Wallace.

“And that’s the point of our coop program and we’ve gone through it we were both hired on full time we don’t just do it to give them experience but we do it because we are looking for future employees,” said Ergon employee Duncan Burr.

Other employers are looking for students who are ready to start their careers as soon as possible.

“We’re just looking for high-quality students to start learning within our offices to start growing as engineers and looking for top quality students,” said employer Jim Steele.

“We definitely have to step up our game. I know my company last year we had a salary analysis and we kind of compare ourselves with other firms of our industry to see how our pay compared to them and we did raise our pay to at least try to keep the workers that we had and to be better for seeking new employees,” said Steele.

Students like Skylar Shields say that students should see their worth and stick to it.

“I definitely think that we are at a point in society where people are asking to be paid what they are worth so I’m definitely asking to be paid what I am worth cause I know what I can bring to a team,” Shields.

Other students such as Johnathan Bishop believe that if businesses really want an employee, they will work with you.

“If they are able to accommodate you and need you to stay in a position I believe that it’s possible nowadays,” said Bishop

And people on both sides of the table say It is all about working hard and showing them what you got.