University of Idaho students across majors gathered at the Spring 2019 Career fair on Wednesday afternoon.
The event played host to 135 employers and representatives of companies according to Eric Anderson, the associate director of career development for UI Career Services.
Nathan Miller, a mechanical engineering major and four-year student at UI, said he came to the Career Fair for the opportunity to meet employers and learn about jobs and internships. Miller said while he thought the grouping of employers could have been more organized based on type of job being offered, the fair was a good opportunity for students.
“I think (the Career Fair) is good. I think there’s a lot of different options here. It seems like the employers have to talk to a lot of people which can be very draining. It’s also a little bit draining for each student as they’re going through having to talk to a lot of people,” Miller said.
During the fair, some students were selected by employers for interviews for jobs and internships. Some of these interviews occurred Wednesday in special booths set up in the back of the Kibbie Dome. Career services also arranged spaces in the Bruce M. Pitman Center for employers to host more interviews on Thursday.
Nadia Prevo and Hardy Bistline, student interns for Career Services, managed a photo booth in which students were given the option to have professional looking headshots taken.
“I think it’s kind of exciting to work (at Career Services), or especially at the photo booth. Seeing all the people coming through right at the end of the fair and they’re happy and all dressed up is kind of cool and nice,” Bistline said.
The Career Fair, which is organized and executed by Career Services, is hosted each semester in the Kibbie Dome and is planned to be held again in the fall.
“(The Career Fair) is an opportunity for students to come and talk to employers who are recruiting for jobs, internships and graduate programs.,” Anderson said. “One of our many goals in career services is we want to get students in front of employers as much as possible and the career fair is a great way to do that.”
“We know students at Idaho, they get a great experience in the classroom, they get a great education,” he said. “We want to make sure they know how to talk about that to employers so they can get great opportunities when they graduate.”
Elizabeth Marshall can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @EJMarshall_