Grambling State News

It’s no secret navigating through changing times means adapting and adopting new ways of thinking and doing business.

Grambling State University’s Center for Career and Professional Development showed it’s willing to take on the challenges of change and continue to forge into the future as it held the Spring 2025 Lonnie B. Smith Career Fair on March 20 inside the Fredrick C. Hobdy Assembly Center.

The changes to the latest GSU Career Fair including incorporating the new center-hung structure with four large 10’x23’ high resolution 3.9mm indoor video screens, holding its Candid Conversations as part of the event itself, including use of a 10’x18’ LCD screens on one of the end walls of the arena, and adding a photo booth for students attending the Fair to take professional headshots to add to their résumés.

Center for Career and Professional Development Assistant Director Daphne Tolliver said that 517 students were offered the chance to speak to representatives of 60 potential employment agencies during the Fair.

“We are thrilled with the strong turnout from both employers and students at our Spring 2025 Lonnie B. Smith Career Fair,” Tolliver said. “This year, we aimed to revamp the experience by incorporating informative preconference sessions from our partners, engaging panel discussions across various industries, and offering professional headshots for our students.

“Our commitment is to continually enhance the student experience, ensuring that it is always filled with exposure and opportunities for growth.”

There were three Candid Conversations held during the event. The first focused CliftonStrengths titled “Achieving Self-Mastery Begins with Recognizing and Harnessing Your Strengths.”

CliftonStrengths is an online assessment tool that helps people identify their natural talents.

Last year, 12 university representatives — six students and six faculty/staff members — participated in the first HBCU CliftonStrengths certification class.

Four of those representatives — University Transformation Officer Dr. Larry Green and GSU students Amy Moody, Arianna Mosely and Ruqayya Stevenson served as the panelists for that CliftonStrengths panel discussion.

The second Candid Conversation featured a pair of GSU graduates, Higher Education Advisor Madison Johnson and Inventory Control Specialist Nicholas Williams talking about the “Real World: Life After College.”

GSU Vice President for University Advancement and Innovation Brandon A. Logan, Dean of GSU’s College of Business Dr. Derrick Warren, and Morgan Chase Bank Vice President of Communications and Community Engagement Latetao Hutchinson spoke on “The Future of Work” during the final Candid Conversation.

Logan talked about the importance of having an attitude of excellence.

“I think that when you consider achieving on the highest level, you have to determine what that highest level is for what you’re working on so that the attitude will translate to your behavior, and your behavior will then shape the outcomes,” Logan said. “I can assure you of one thing, when we have downsizes happening or any kind of shift in the marketplace, those individuals who have an attitude of excellence, and actions of excellence, they will also do better.

“So, if you can adapt that as a characteristic trait, everything you do has some level of performance and evaluation applied to it, people will remember you for your reputation of excellence. If you carry excellence in you in everything you do and hold that standard, I guarantee you will always be better for it.”

Warren stressed continuous learning throughout one’s life and told those in attendance that they should always be future ready.

“When I think about key skills, I have to think about skills that are future ready,” Warren said. “Regardless of what happens in the environment, that what happens in the government — who becomes elected, who becomes president, who becomes vice president or Speaker of the House — we have got to be future ready.

Warren said there are three specific skills that can help someone become future ready.

“One of those is cognitive skills — cognitive flexibility and critical thinking,” Warren said. “A second is digital and data literacy. We have to understand data is one of the world’s greatest natural resources. Our newest natural resource. We need people who know how to gather insights from that data and problem solve. That’s a key skill that all of our students need to have.

“And the third skill, which is sometimes underestimated, is emotional intelligence. We’ve got to be able to get along with each other and to understand how different people work. We’ve got to be in touch with our mental, cognitive ability, because mental health is a key challenge in today’s society and on our college campuses specifically.”

As often happens, there were a number of Grambling State graduates that returned to GSU to serve as recruiters for the Career Fair.

Melissa Nation of Foster Farms was one of those returning graduates and was decked out in full Grambling gear as she recruited students for not only post-graduation jobs such as managers, human resource specialists and the like, but also for nightshift facility production jobs students can take while still attending classes.

“I enjoy it. I take pride in it,” Nation said of serving as a recruiter during the Career Fair. “That’s why I wear my gear. I just want to let the students know that once they leave here, there is life past school once you get out there in the workforce. And it doesn’t always have to be what you think it would be.”

Nathan McCarter, a GSU Mass Communication major, said he had a discussion with a representative from CLECO power company that excited him.

“Public relations positions are other potential jobs I’m looking at in addition to reporting, and especially sports reporting positions,” McCarter said. “Corporate communications in CLECO includes marketing but uses communications skills to reach out to customers. And there are in-house communication services, too.

“After this semester I’ll be a junior, so I thought it was a good time to come get a feel for this and see what it’s all about. I think the Career Fair just shows people there are opportunities all around and if you’ve taken care of the schoolwork part of it before this process, you’ve already laid down half of it. Then all you have to do is to get out, speak to people and show them that you’re qualified.”

Halima Salat, a senior sports management major from Amarillo, Texas, said she still has a year to go before graduation but wanted to experience the Career Fair to know what to expect when she comes to the Spring 2026 Career Fair looking for a job as she prepares to graduate.

“I got to talk to a lot of organizations and started networking,” Salat said. “I’m just getting my feet wet. I just wanted to come out and see what it is like so that I will know what to expect next year when it will really matter.”