March 15, 2017- Ashesi held its biggest Career Fair yet; welcoming over 60 companies to this year’s edition of the event. The annual fair, organised by Ashesi’s Career Services Department, brings together representatives from firms across Africa to interact with members of the community on various career developmental levels.
Sponsors for this year’s event included General Electric, Ghana National Petroleum Corporation, Tullow Ghana, Genkey, United Pensions Trustees, VOTO Mobile, Databank Financial Services Limited , Teach for Ghana, Crystal Capital Ghana and Beige Academy.
While the annual event creates a platform for organisations to recruit Ashesi students and alumni, it is also helps members of the community to gain an appreciation of the opportunities and challenges that exist on the professional landscape.
“Each time we have attended the fair, I‘ve been left with a sense of personal renewal because I see something different,” said Edward Appiah-Brafoh, Human Capital Manager at the Petroleum Commission, Ghana, which has attended the fair for the third year in a row. “One of the things that fascinates is the innovation that is attached to the student experience at Ashesi. Today, I met several innovative students whose engagement in research and other programs challenges the status quo. At the Petroleum Commission, one of our core values is innovation; where we constantly think of practical ways of doing things to make our work easier, reduce cost and improve efficiency, and that’s what I see at Ashesi. In the future, it would be exciting to see even more companies participating in the fair; I believe that will expose the community to several more industries.”
The fair also featured a mix of breakout sessions that included presentations from several companies, speed-interview sessions, and competitions. The competitions, the highlights of the fair tested students’ skills in public speaking, personal branding, business development and business etiquette.
“For me, the focus for participating in this year's Personal Branding competition was to not only share my story with employers, but also to engage with fellow students as well,” said senior Benedicta Amo Bempah’17. “As students here, it’s important we take advantage of opportunities such as the Career Fair to create value and build stronger networks. I also look forward to seeing more employers creating more avenues for us to enable us grow, and create value in their organisations.”
“The career fair is always an exciting opportunity for our community to engage with the corporate world, learn from employers and expose our students to the what's out there,” said Sylvia Kunkyebe of the Career Services Department. “Not only did we host our largest number yet, but also, we were particularly excited about the level of participation from the several new firms. While the feedback we get from such engagements helps us better train our students, we are always excited about opportunities like this to display the quality here, and the difference our students can make out there.”