The Ole Miss School of Business is gearing up for its third annual Internship Fair, and looking for a few local businesses to participate in the event.

“Internships are such a huge part of the college experience for students. They have to participate in these to be competitive in the job market so, within the School of Business, we really encourage our students to think about their career early on, to think about job shadowing through internships to get all the experience that they can because the job market is so competitive,” Wesley Dickens, the Coordinator of Career Preparation and Internships for the Business School, said.

The fair will be held Thursday, Aug. 30 from 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Inn at Ole Miss ballroom.

Thirty employers have already signed up to participate in the fair, but space is available for a few more, Dickens said.

The goal of the fair, Dickens said, is to provide networking and job opportunities for students at Ole Miss; not just those who are business majors.

“We encourage all students in the School of Business, and all Ole Miss students, to think about their career, to really be intentional about participating in these high impact practices like an internship and to network with employers early in their college career,” Dickens said. “We encourage our sophomores, freshmen and juniors to really participate in these types of events. They don’t have to wait until they are a senior, about to graduate, and you don’t have these experiences so you are just kind of behind the 8-ball. “

Local employers can also sign their businesses up for the BUS 300 Business Internship class. The class is a required course for anyone majoring in general business, but any Ole Miss student can sign up to take the three credit hour course.

The class requires students to complete 180 hours at their respective internships and participate in an online seminar.

“We’ve seen a lot of students participate in this internship experience because they see the need for relevant working experience. … They know how important it is to be marketable once they graduate,” Dickens said.

While most of the students enrolled in the class will be business majors, the jobs that they can perform aren’t limited to just business.

“The students have to be gaining experience in a business environment that can be translatable to whatever career that they are interested in, so we want to bridge the gap between what they are interested in and the real world,” Dickens said, citing marketing, finance and entrepreneurship as some of the possibilities available to interns and employers.

The most important thing, Dickens said, is that the student and the employer each get something out of the experience.

For more information on the internship class, or to sign up for the internship fair, email Dickens at wdickens@bus.olemiss.edu.