Yesterday at Roanoke College, the Alpha Kappa Psi business fraternity in conjunction with the career services office, hosted a local internship fair for Roanoke College students. Approximately, 30 organizations attended and were looking to fill a wide range of positions. (Interestingly, the recruiters of these organizations were predominantly young adults.)

Annie Johnson’s recent Roanoke Times article on internships reported a sharp increase in the number of local internships in the region. This internship fair supports her article.

Congratulations to Roanoke College on making the connection between its students and the region. 

Faculty Net is a hosting another professional social at the Oge-Chi’s Restaurant in Blacksburg on Nov 9, 5:30-7:30pm. Oge-Chi is located at on Draper Rd. next to Bollo’s and Rivermill.

Faculty Net is an opportunity for young professionals in the region to gather and meet each other. For more info, email Hardus. 

Feel free to bring colleagues/spouses/friends and don’t hesitate to let others know.

On Friday, we brought a group of college students from Virginia Tech to tour the city and visit with local employers. They were very impressed with the venue, downtown, food, but especially the employers and how they talked favorable about the region’s prospects.

Wachovia, Shenandoah Life and the Renick Group all helped sell the region and the opportunities locally to these aspiring college students. Thanks to the representatives of these organizations who took their time to help us sell the region to Generation Y.

The City of Roanoke created a database to capture the names and contact info of people wanting to be employed in the Roanoke region. From this list, employers contact candidates and the candidates receive eNewsletters about "hidden" jobs.

I received this email today from one of the persons on the distribution list:

"I gave up on VA, moved back to the good folks of Texas. No sense sending this to me. Thank you."

We did not get it done with this one, but we will continue to give it the old college try. If you have friends thinking about leaving because of job opportunities, then direct them to these resources.

Recently, I had the good fortune to meet Jason Dorsey on his recent trip to Roanoke. Jason is a 28 year old international motivational speaker and author who has become the voice for the next generation. He helps organizations better understand how to motivate and retain young adults through the lens of a young adult.

His presentation style is entertaining, witty and very informative. Check out his website and pick up his books.