Hundreds of potential employers and staffing agencies lined the walls of Bender Arena while students wandered around with resumes and business cards in hand as part of the Career Center's biannual Job and Internship Fair last Thursday.
"Employers are really starting to recognize that they need to get on the bandwagon," said Career Center Executive Director Katherine Stahl, referring to the high employment rates for college graduates. "There's a pumping out in the economy."
Stahl said that they had a record number of 170 employers present at the event.
"Sometimes we don't open up the whole gym. ... This time we have as many tables as we can," Stahl said.
While many of the employers were returning participants, there were also 80 new employers.
"We have a lot of new blood," Stahl said.
In order to help prepare the students to meet the employers and present themselves well, the Career Center held drop-in hours at the Mary Graydon Center couches, where students could meet with advisors and have their resumes critiqued.
"It was one of the busiest years," said Lauren Wiedl, Career Center employer services coordinator. "We had to have more advisors to come and critique resumes to accommodate the number of students."
"Drop in hours were really helpful," said Daphne Leger, a sophomore in the School of International Service. She said that despite the large number of students that utilized the service, "they answered all my questions."
Employers generally seemed impressed with the preparedness of students and the overall set-up of the fair.
"[The students] are extremely eager to learn," said Jennifer Vinson, a recruiter with the American Geophysical Union. "They are wanting full time positions as well as internships. ... They are well prepared knowing what they want."
Employers were also impressed with the organization of the event.
"It has the staff, the layout, the school," said LaWanda Thomas, a member of the Marketing and Regulatory Programs team in the United States Department of Agriculture Veterinary Services.
Following the fair, employers were asked to fill out surveys that gauged employer interest, asked what type of positions employers were looking to fill and evaluated student preparedness.
"[Employer evaluation] helps us know the flavor, the demographic [employers] are looking for," Stahl said.
