CORAL GABLES, Fla. – The University of Miami held its annual Student-Athlete Career and Internship Fair Monday evening at the multipurpose room in the Fieldhouse adjacent to the BankUnited Center.

The three-hour event featured 25 companies and UM departments. Those in attendance included the Miami Dolphins, Miami HEAT, Miami Marlins, Enterprise Rent-A-Car, Insight Global and Northwestern Mutual.

The career fair was organized Shirelle Jackson, the UM Director of Student-Athlete Development, and UM’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) in conjunction with UM’s Toppel Career Center.

“I am grateful for our partnership with Toppel Career Center, as they have been a tremendous help in providing this wonderful career engagement opportunity for our student-athlete population,” Jackson said. “We have a strong graduation rate among our student-athlete population and I want to support them as they transition from their undergraduate career into their professional phase of life. It is important we provide these career and leadership events so we can support the total development of our student-athletes.”

The event was primarily organized for UM student-athletes in their junior or senior years, while underclassmen were invited to come, too, and many did. Businesses in attendance offered opportunities for student-athletes to learn about both internships and full-time positions.

“This was a tremendous event. Shirelle did a great job selecting a diverse group of companies for student-athletes to network with,” said Shannon McCarthy, a SAAC member and two-time soccer co-captain. “I firmly believe a career fair reserved for athletes . . . sets us apart from other schools in the country by giving athletes a platform to be successful beyond school and beyond our sport.”

Student-athletes from 15 of Miami’s 16 sports teams came out to the event, as did members of the cheer and dance teams.

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