If the Ball State University Career Center is going to inspire the hearts of complacent students starting Sunday they are going to need a superhero.
James Mitchell, assistant director of the Career Center, said the center will hire a student for the feat of raising awareness for the upcoming job fair.
The name of the superhero, he said, will be Job Man.
Students interested in participating need to come to Worthen Arena on Sunday at 1:30 p.m. before the basketball game. Participants will meet at gate three in customs to interview for Job Man.
Mitchell said the superhero will be like the Happy Friday Guy of the job fair, which will be Feb. 27.
The Career Center is always trying to raise awareness for their services and programs, he said.
The center is trying to have fun with the student body, he said, but it's also a part of a bigger picture.
"We want to not just encourage students to go to basketball games or [become] Job Man, but to come to the job fair," he said.
The student who is named Job Man will win a $100 fuel card and will be working for 10 days to generate interest for the job fair.
Mitchell said there will be 111 employers at the job fair for the potential superhero to represent.
Mitchell said about 800 students attended the job fair last semester, which stopped a downward trend in job fair attendance from past years. But this year's job fair has more employers, so more students are needed to come interview.
He said Job Man may have a ceremonial role at the job fair, but he was not sure the hero's costume would fit in with the professional environment.
Mitchell said he and his coworkers have been joking about Job Man for years.
"I saw some good promise in the joke, and hopefully students can joke along with us," he said.
Then, the joke became a reality and the Career Center began planning for it six weeks ago, he said.
Sophomore telecommunications major Hayden Little said the person who becomes Job Man needs to be energetic and can't be afraid of being teased.
"If you have some guy who is bland, nobody is going to go to the job fair," he said.
Mitchell said it remains to be seen how students will do representing the job fair, but the first impressions will be what the judges base their decision on.
"I'm always excited for the creativity that the Ball State students demonstrate," he said.
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