On Wednesday, Eastern Michigan University hosted a government job fair in the Student Center Ballroom. Organizations like the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Federal Bureau of Investigation were there, teaching students how to apply for jobs and what positions will be opening up within the next few years.
Barbara Jones, the coordinator of the event at EMU, said every year they normally get hundreds of students pre-registering. Most students hear about the event through fliers around campus or on the EMU application for smartphones.
The government job fair catered to many different types of students at EMU. Many organizations, such as ATF, are looking to recruit all majors.
According to special agent Kevin Arnett of ATF, the job market for the ATF is full of opportunity.
“We have about 600 agents right now who could retire tomorrow if they wanted to because we have a mandatory retirement age of 57 so right now they’re trying to back fill all of those positions,” Arnett said.
He explained ATF requires a minimum of four years of college or three years of experience as well as adequate physical fitness. To secure a job with the ATF, candidates must also be U.S. citizens.
After years of having no budget for new hires, the DEA finally has a budget to bring in some new people come June.
Special Agent Christopher Taylor talked about the DEA, what the organization has to offer and what it takes to get in.
“You must have either a minimum of a bachelor’s degree or a year of narcotics investigation,” Taylor said.
Most of the agencies at the job fair had hiring through USAjobs.gov, where you can upload your resume and cover letter. Most of the agencies have positions for all majors.
Mathematics and economics major sophomore Shawn Davies attended the event and said he was just browsing.
“I’m not really sure who I’d like to look at. I was thinking the FBI or National Labor Relations Board but I’m not too sure.”
EMU fifth year accounting major Torey Powers noticed a flyer for the job fair and decided to register. Later, he looked into it and saw that the FBI was hiring accounting majors and he was really interested in maybe applying.
“I’d be happy with any job at this point,” Powers said.
