While NIU offers an education in various majors, there is a lack of representation of some majors when it comes to career resources on campus. Career fairs in particular need to better represent different majors.

NIU provides help on campus for finding potential jobs or internships. Seminars and resources that apply to all majors are provided by Career Services, but not every resource seems to be equally opportunistic. Many career-related events happen on campus like the Marketing & Sales Talent Night, ACCY Career Fair, Athletic Career Forum, Engineering Job Fair and NIU Educator’s Job Fair. All of these events are specialized towards a certain skill or major. However, these events leave a lot of majors out.

Every spring and fall semester, NIU offers an internship fair and a career fair for students. These fairs allow students to meet employers and in order to be considered by companies for future employment. The internship fair will have 96 employers and the career fair will have 213 employers, according to the NIU Career Services website.

The College of Engineering and Engineering Technology even has its own career fair. The engineering job fair will take place today in the Engineering Building from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

“There are a lot of organizations that are looking for people of all majors, but their primary focus has always tended to be on something much more specific,” said Jack King, director of student professional development for the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

While business and engineering are very prospective fields, there are still other majors at NIU that need to be represented. All students should have the opportunity to find a career that has to do with the skills and specializations that are taught in their selected major.

“I did consider going this year and there was only one job that had the Visual and Performing Art majors listed,” said senior photography major Cyndy Spice.

These fairs claim to be geared towards all students, but some students do not feel fully represented.

“I’ve known some people who have gone to [the fairs], and they always have trouble getting people to talk to them when they find out their majors, so it’s kind of discouraging,” Spice said.

NIU should work on ways to find the less popular majors companies interested in their skill sets. There should also be specific career fairs for each of the colleges.

Through King’s postion and the workshops that Career Services promotes NIU has made some effort to include students of all majors and find the best place for them in terms of internships. The Division of Student Affairs and Enrollment Management aim to support students’ academic, personal and career success through opportunities that foster engagement, learning and development, according to a new strategic plan on the Division of Student Affairs and Management’s website.

All majors should have equal representation when it comes to career resources here at NIU. The university would paint itself as more well-rounded if it gave more effort to supporting all majors. This support can begin with more positions like King’s as director of student professional development in each of the colleges so students have a place to make the connections they need.