The University Career Center will hold the winter Career Fair Wednesday. The fair will host numerous corporations, not-for-profit organizations, graduate and professional schools and government agencies from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the EMU Ballroom.
Organizations attending the fair include American Express Financial Advisors, Pacificorp, the Internal Revenue Service, The Associated Press and Western States Chiropractic College.
“The Career Fair serves to connect students with employers who have come to the University to hire them,” Career Center Director Larry Smith said. “Organization representatives have come to the University to fill openings for jobs and graduate programs because of the quality of our students.”
The Career Fair provides an opportunity for University students to meet potential future employers, begin networking in a real-world environment, talk with recruiters and set up interviews.
“I got my initial job because of the fair,” University alumnus Sean Whorton said.
Whorton now works for the Lux company as a buyer, but he attributes his rise up the corporate ladder to his first job as an executive trainee at the Bon Marché. The Bon hired Whorton during a career fair he attended his senior year.
“It wasn’t my dream job,” he said. “But it led to bigger and
better things.”
The Career Center and University advisers suggest students come to the fair prepared to meet employers and attend interviews.
“It’s a great chance for students to get some practice talking to employers and going through the interview process,” said Beth Pfieffer, internship coordinator for the School of Journalism and Communication.
University students who take part in services offered through the Career Center and attend the Career Fair are 30 percent more likely than students who do not utilize the services to receive a job offer after graduation according to a survey of graduating students published by the Columbia National Job Search Study.
Officials at the Career Center recommend that students identify the kind of work they want to do, locate the organizations at the fair that specialize in these areas, then generate a list of employers that they would want to work for.
Kristi Huey, a 2001 graduate, used the event to land her current job as a district manager with E. and J. Gallo Winery.
“It was great,” Huey said. “I just went to the fair looking for the best opportunity and I hooked up with the Gallo people.”
Huey would recommend that students attend the fair, even if they do not see the company they want to work for on the list.
“It is all about networking,” she said. “Even if you don’t find the company you’re looking for, there are just so many people to meet and contacts to make.”