Every spring, the Career and Professional Development (CPD) Office hosts a career fair designed to invite students of all years to interact with employers and organizations, explore internships and job opportunities, and gain valuable networking experience. This year, the Ursinus College Career Fair will take place March 4th, 2026, from 12-2PM in the Floy Lewis Bakes (FLB) Field House. The format will be different from what previous attendees may remember, and the CPD Office is eager to share those changes with the campus community. Here is what students should expect at the upcoming event—and how to prepare to make a strong impression on employers.
As the first career fair under the newly launched Applied, Professional, Experiential (APEX) program, the overall structure of the fair will differ from previous years, though the core operations will remain consistent with past years. Heather Warman, Assistant Director of Employer Engagement, explained, “We’re going to have employers in clusters. So, if students are interested in business, for example, those organizations will be grouped together rather than spread across the field house.”
Employer clusters will mirror APEX hubs by connecting students’ academic interests with related work experiences and organizational missions. In other words, these employers will be aligned with the majors and minors as closely as possible. “Do we hit it all, 100%? Not all the time, but we have pretty close alignment to the majors and minors within Ursinus,” assured Warman.
This new layout allows students to easily explore the areas—or ‘zones’—they are interested in. Samantha Harvey, a Career Coach, further described the relation to APEX sharing. “While this is the first year of APEX,” she said, “we’re really excited to have our career fair be incorporated into the programming because APEX is for everybody.” As part of this integration, first-year students are now required to attend the career fair as part of their APEX-51 class, exposing them to opportunities as early as possible.
While mandatory events are not always the most thrilling prospects, the CPD staff emphasizes the value of this experience. “I think especially for the freshmen, it gets them into sort of a muscle memory on interacting with employers,” Warman noted. “How to just talk to people, and start practicing and honing those skills for when they are going out on internships or maybe just a local job.” As the CPD office stresses, practicing conversations, asking questions, and preparing for events like this primes all students, not just first-years, for future success.
Warman urged students to look at the fair as an exploration activity—exploring employers, responsibilities, and industries. “It’s thinking outside the box,” Warman concluded, “and showing sort of the whole scope of opportunities available for students.”
For effective preparation, the CPD Office strongly recommends registering for the fair on Handshake. Registration allows students to view the attending employers and receive email reminders as the fair approaches. Harvey stressed, “We really recommend taking a look at those employers, looking at their mission statements, looking at what roles they’re hiring for, if it’s jobs or internships.” Many employers present are also open to networking, meaning they are ready to accept questions on their organization and the work they do.
Harvey shared further the preparation steps for students, such as identifying employers with interest in advance, planning what attire to wear, and ensuring one has an up-to-date resume. “So really,” Harvey surmised, “[it’s about] being intentional about crafting some of those questions beforehand based on your research to help you make a good impression and stand out once you’re at the fair.” The CPD Office will have walk-in hours every Wednesday to help students sharpen their resume and prepare for the fair.
If you are feeling nervous about attending the fair, the CPD staff stresses students will not be on their own. In addition to a designated student lounge for decompression and rest, there will be several workers aiding students during the fair. “There’s our whole office, plus we have student workers, we have AACCs (academic advisors and career coaches)—there’s a lot of support.” Warman stated. She continued, “I can deeply empathize with the student that it might be too noisy, too loud, just a lot of busyness. There is support in place for them to come and decompress and they can pull us aside and just say like, ‘I need a moment.’” Harvey’s advice is simple: preparation builds confidence. “Coming to the walk-in hours, meeting with us,” she said, “drafting your career fair action plan so you go into that day feeling confident and as prepared as possible.”
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