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Students met potential employers during the first of three career fairs to be held this year, in Driscoll Ballroom last week.The career fairs are organized by the Career Center.”Each fair has a coordinator, and it rotates between different counselors and staff members,” said Wendy Winter-Searcy, a career counselor.Tina Stack-Oldweiler, project specialist for the Career Center, coordinated this fall’s fair. At the fair, students meet recruiters in order to receive employment or internship opportunities.The Career Center encourages that all levels of students and alumni attend the career fairs. “More traditionally seniors are the ones coming, but it is good to go earlier because there are internship opportunities,” said Winter-Searcy.Fifty-eight companies and organizations were present during the fair including business, media, non-profit, construction and banking institutions. The Peace Corps, Abercrombie and Fitch, the U.S. Marines, Hyatt Hotels and Xcel Energy were some of the organizations present.”This fair probably had the largest employer interest and attendance out of the last four or five years,” said Winter-Searcy. “We had to turn some away because there just wasn’t room in the ballroom.”Students and recent alumni walked around the ballroom speaking with various representatives from participating companies. Student dress was mixed. While some students wore T-shirts and jeans, others were in business attire.Most students agreed that the career fair was a positive experience.”It’s really nice because it’s an open environment,” said Jonathan Kopf, an MBA student. “It’s a no hassle situation.”Other students found the fair helpful but still felt that many of the organizations only targeted specific types of majors. “It’s definitely helpful, but I definitely feel it’s catered to business majors,” said Heather McWilliams, a senior psychology major.Many booths were staffed by representatives in their 20s and some admitted that they were sent to seem more like peers for the students. Ryan Jordan, aN alumnus and entry level professional accountant for the U.S. Department of Defense, believes that is the reason the Department of Defense sent him as one of the representatives.”I can better relate with the students,” said Jordan who started working with the Department of Defense last year. At one point, there were 200 to 250 people present at the fair, including students and representatives. The number of students participating has increased over past years, but not as much as the staff would have liked.”We were disappointed in the student attendance,” said Winter-Searcy.Even though student participation was low, the career staff still feels the fall fair went well.”The employers are generally very happy with the service that we provide and the quality of the students,” said Winter-Searcy. “Employers continually talk about how prepared DU students are,” said Stack-Oldweiler.The career center will hold job fairs in the winter and spring quarters that will be only for non-profit and government organizations.

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