County Students to Get a Taste of the Business World

Hundreds of students will meet with local businesses and government agencies Saturday at the , where employers will offer advice on how to secure an internship and avoid the pitfalls of Facebook posts that could come back to haunt students during a job search.

The fourth-annual expo—attended by more than 500 middle and high school students last year—will run from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at in Glen Burnie.

Twenty-nine companies and government agencies are expected to send representatives to the expo, and lunch will be provided for students and their parents, said Lois Lanier, executive director of the 21st Century Education Foundation, which will host the expo.

Business officials who plan to attend the career expo said the most popular career paths often involve companies and agencies that specialize in technology. Christian Converse, program manager for Daly Computers in Clarksburg, doesn’t expect that to change this year.

“I have had parents literally pushing their kids into my booth and saying, ‘Talk to him about technology, that’s a good field to get into,’” said Converse, whose company installs about 6,000 new computers in Anne Arundel County schools every summer. "Parents have always been highly supportive of a career in technology."

Lanier said the expo lets high school students preparing for college get a better idea of the educational path needed for their chosen field.

“I think they don’t always understand what courses they need to take,” she said. “And it’s great to hear from people in the business community who know what it takes.”

Bonnie Johansen, public affairs manager for Constellation Energy Group, said the Baltimore-based company has brought employees with a range of expertise to the career expo, including linemen, engineers and designers.

“It’s good just having someone tell them what it takes to accomplish their goals and start a career,” Johansen said. “Students and their parents benefit from that.”

Keeping Facebook profiles and Twitter feeds free of scandalous comments and photos, Lanier said, has become a central issue at the expo in recent years.

“We stress that it’s important to be careful about social networking,” she said, adding that the career expo has a breakout session that addresses security clearances and what might disqualify a job applicant from obtaining the necessary clearance. “I think sometimes students are surprised that Facebook posts could be so damaging” to their job prospects, she said.

Teenagers might see social media sites as a digital playground for friends and family, Converse said, but offensive videos, pictures and comments are scrutinized by employers conducting thorough background checks.

An inappropriate comment posted by a middle school student, Converse said, could cost him or her a job after high school, during college or afterward.

“Many employers, as part of their screening process, are checking Facebook pages,” he said. “They want to make sure there’s not something wild and crazy about that person somewhere [on the Internet].”

Johansen said that as Facebook use has become ubiquitous in high school, students have become more wary of how they interact with friends on the social media site.

“Kids realize what they say and what they put out there is public,” she said.