The University of Nairobi through the Office of Career Services held its annual Career Fair at the UoN Great Court, Main Campus from 5-6 December, 2019 from 8.00am to 5.00 pm each day. The theme for the event was ‘Skilling Graduates for the Job Market’. The structure of the career fair included exhibitions by career partners, career talks, one-on-one career guidance and career mentorship.

The Career Fair was well attended by 32 Kenyan companies and 16 Chinese companies. The event was officially opened by the Minister Counselor, Chinese Embassy Mr. Zhao Xiyuan who congratulated all the UoN graduands for their hard work. Mr. Zhao pointed out that over 360 Kenyans are recruited by Chinese companies locally and there are over 400 Chinese companies in Kenya. The Minister Counselor indicated the strong commitment being given by the Chinese companies on localization of enterprises which are keen on offering high quality employment opportunities for graduates.

The General Manager-Operations at FCm Travel Ms. Christine Nderimo reminded the students present at the opening session that they could be the brightest and have first class honours in their degrees, but without the right attitude, miss out on opportunities in the job market. Being humble and maintaining the right attitude is what will help one to climb their career path she reiterated.

Mr. Ajeet Ghatwal, the Head of Human Resources & Administration East Africa at Redington Kenya Limited got the opportunity to give remarks on behalf of all the partners who participated in the career fair. He appreciated the University for hosting the event and indicated that his company was in search of top students from UoN to recruit or hire for job and internship opportunities.

Faith Thumbi, a 4^th Year student pursuing a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics and Psychology thanked the partners for gracing the event on behalf of all the students’ fraternity. She indicated that unemployment is a big problem in Kenya but with the right attitude and proper grooming for entry into the job market, it is possible to sail through and get opportunities.

The Director, Career Services, Mr. Johnson Kinyua welcomed all the partners present at the Career Fair opening session and appreciated their participation at the event. Students were encouraged to tour all the partners’ stands with their CVs and enquire more about the opportunities the partners were offering.

Career Talk sessions were held as side events during the career fair. Students received talks on Preparing a future-ready workforce, How to plan for your career growth, Bridging the gap between the classroom and industry, Transitioning from a student to a professional, Skills for building brands in the 21^st century, Cyber Security, Cloud, Data Centre Virtualization and Data Analytics.

The 2019 UoN Career Fair partners offered over 30 job and internship opportunities for UoN students. The Office of Career Services will continue to explore more opportunities with its wide array of stakeholders and partners to secure more opportunities for students.