Seventy-two schools from around the world will send representatives and feature displays at BJU’s annual Christian School Recruitment Conference next week on Feb. 17 and 18 to engage students in various job opportunities. 

The conference will provide students diverse Christian school exposure, with representatives of schools from China, Peru, Guam and Puerto Rico. Schools have many job openings besides teaching positions, including positions in business management and sports, making the conference valuable to all students, not just to education majors. 

Dr. Brian Carruthers, dean of the School of Education, encourages students to stop by the conference every year to build relationships with representatives from the schools. “Students who . . . went by as freshmen, then went back as sophomores and so on, begin to develop that relationship that ended up in a job,” Carruthers said.

Director of Career Services Shawn Albert said students should come to the conference with resumes and be prepared for interviews. “There are more opportunities [at the conference] than we have students to fill them,” Albert said.

In addition to potential employment, the conference provides students with perspective. Carruthers said that from talking with representatives, students will gain greater awareness of the issues that these schools are dealing with and how they can pray for them.

 From a student viewpoint, Rachel Anderson, junior early childhood education major, said that she has really enjoyed making connections at the conference. “It is great to be able to hear the missions and beliefs of various ministries and fellowship with likeminded educators,” Anderson said. 

Students going to the conference will be asked to scan ID cards at the check-in counter that will record their attendance and provide access to printable name tags. Students may download the 2020 School Directory, since printed directories will not be available at the conference. This directory can be found on BJU’s Career Services webpage.

The conference will be held in the Davis Room of the dining common on Monday, Feb. 17, from 1 to 4:30 p.m. and 6 to 8 p.m. and on Tuesday, Feb. 18, from 1 to 4 p.m.