UNE's first immersive Industry Exploration Day will be held Thursday, Oct. 16
The event aims to shape students’ early professional pathways by connecting them with the region’s top employers and building career-ready skills
As part of its central promise to incorporate career readiness across all its academic programs, the University of New England will host its inaugural Industry Exploration Day on Thursday, Oct. 16, uniting students with the region’s top employers, prominent UNE alumni, and a host of industry professionals to equip them with the skills needed to thrive in the rapidly changing world of work.
Presented by UNE’s College of Business and newly formed Office of Career Readiness and Workforce Development (OCRWD), the immersive career and networking event will be held from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the Harold Alfond Forum on the University’s Biddeford Campus.
With boundaries beyond those of a traditional career fair, the event is designed as a day of student discovery and connection, said Ashley Bigda, M.S.Ed., director of Career Readiness and Workforce Development at UNE.
“Industry Exploration Day is about more than meeting recruiters; it’s about showing our students that they already belong in these professional spaces,” Bigda said. “We’re helping them gain confidence, build strategic connections, and step into their careers knowing they have the preparation and networks to succeed.”
Throughout the day, top employers across Maine’s health care, finance, business services, media, construction, technology, and hospitality sectors will share insights about their fields, highlight internships and entry-level opportunities, and offer one-on-one professional development support, ranging from résumé reviews and LinkedIn coaching to insider interview advice.
UNE’s Student Photography Club will provide professional headshots, while the University’s S.W.A.P. Shop — a campus-based opportunity shop grounded in sustainability practices — will display available professional attire, showcasing the role of students in shaping their own professional pathways.
The timing of the event underscores UNE’s broader strategy of providing students with professional experiences early on in their academic journeys. That strategy includes incorporating interdisciplinary perspectives into experiential, cross-campus programming that will maximize students’ engagement as they build their professional identities.
UNE created the Office of Career Readiness and Workforce Development earlier this year to serve as the hub of student career support, coordinating employer relations and overseeing a comprehensive career advising curriculum. The office’s mission is to integrate career development across academic programs, connect students with professional networks, and prepare graduates to adapt to the realities of a rapidly changing economy.
The day’s activities will continue through the evening, as the UNE College of Business hosts the second panel discussion in its Spark Business Series, “The Business of Cyber Defense: How Leaders Prepare for and Recover from Cyber Threats.”
That event, held at 5 p.m. on the second floor of the Harold Alfond Forum, will bring together executives from Uprise Partners and experts in business leadership, risk management, and crisis response to campus to share real-world insights into one of the fastest-growing fields in — and threats to — the global economy.
Norm O’Reilly, Ph.D., dean of the College of Business, said this first Industry Exploration Day and the Spark Series highlight UNE’s commitment to pairing academic excellence with practical experience, building bridges between the classroom and the workplace.
“Our role is to position UNE students for lifelong career success by linking their learning to real-world expertise,” O’Reilly said. “These events create the kinds of professional pathways — internships, job placements, and mentorships — that launch careers while meeting the workforce needs of our region and beyond.”
Bigda said the day exemplifies UNE’s focused approach to student workforce preparation: bridging education and industry to foster students’ foundational career skills, expand their professional networks, and prepare them to adapt in a rapidly changing world shaped by forces like artificial intelligence, global interconnectivity, and shifting workplace needs.
“When career readiness merges experiential learning with meaningful networking, we position students for a future where they don’t just navigate the workforce; instead, they redefine it,” remarked Bigda. “Today’s event marks the beginning of what will become an annual tradition of connecting UNE students with the industries they will soon lead and, ultimately, transform."