Part-Time Job Fair Draws MC Students

Chick fil-A employees Crystal Lord and Brooke Sample chat with MC junior Adam Herrington of Laurel at MC's part-time jobs fair at the university cafeteria in early April.

It’s never too early for students to start hunting summer jobs.

With that in mind, Mississippi College’s Office of Career Services hosted a summer and part-time jobs fair attracting scores of students Wednesday.

Companies like Target are trying to fill up to 25 jobs at its Jackson store off County Line Road by early May. Staffers from Chick-Fil-A visited the MC cafeteria in hopes of hiring people for its new Brandon restaurant off I-20 that opens in mid-June.

MC sophomore Christina Bennett of Greenville is a loyal Chick-Fil-A customer who appreciates the fact the restaurant is closed on Sundays so people can attend church. “I like the food, the people and the company in general,” she said. “They are closed on Sundays when not that many people are doing it.”

Before moving on, Bennett received an application and chatted for a few minutes with Chick-Fil-A staffer Brooke Sample of the company’s Flowood restaurant .

Assistant director of the Office of Career Services, Hayley Taff says a slowly brightening USA economic picture is starting to impact Mississippi, with more companies in the region needing to fill jobs. The national unemployment rate stands at 8.3 percent, but is above 9 percent in Mississippi.

MC junior Adam Herrington, a computer science major from Laurel, said he appreciates having a timely event like this on the Clinton campus well before spring graduations in May. “It’s a good opportunity,” he said.

A Mississippi College Lady Choctaws basketball player, Kristin Newsome of Jackson hit it off pretty well with Target employees Karen Mayes and Jerome Jones. She picked up an application before heading to classes on the Clinton campus. “This is an easier way to find a job,” said the MC junior. “I don’t need to go to the Internet.”

The Outback Steakhouse was among the other companies stopping at MC. Outback wants to hire eight people, including servers and hosts, at its Jackson restaurant off I-55.

Representatives from ten companies visited the university’s summer and part-time jobs fair. Others included the Vicksburg YMCA, Moxie Pest Control, Newk’s Express Café, Scientific Research, Central Hills Baptist Retreat, Community Bank and Drama Kids of Greater Jackson.

For more information, stop at the MC Office of Career Services at 314 Nelson Hall, call 601-925-3901 or go to www.mc.edu/career.