Kelli Kavinsky
A total of 391 students and community members seeking jobs met with 53 employers at CSU-Pueblo’s annual Career Fair, held in the ballroom of the Occhiato University Center, March 2.
Each year the Career Center hosts a career fair as a way to help students find potential jobs. Anyone can attend the fair. However, students who are about to graduated are encouraged to attend the event.
“Career fairs are good for students because we bring the employers to them, a one stop shop to them,” said Michelle Gjerde, director of the Career Center.
The most important thing Gjerde wants students to take from this fair is to be prepared, she said.
“Students need to prepare, practice and be patient,” Gjerde said. “If they prepare by having a professional resume, dressing professionally, researching who will be attending, practice their introduction and be patient on hearing back from an employer they may be successful.
“To quote one of our deans, he said, ‘Students need to dress like they already have the job they want.’”
Gjerde thinks job opportunities are what students are looking for while attending college, she said, and the career fair is the perfect opportunity to do that.
“Employers can talk to students without actually interviewing formally and market their company or organization face to face,” Gjerde said.
Gjerde thought it this year’s event was a success, she said.
“Due to the economic downturn in hiring and the high level of unemployed, we were very happy with our numbers, both with students and employers,” Gjerde said. “We were comparable to last year with 53 employers.”
Gjerde had one major complaint which was the number of unprepared job seekers who attended the event, she said.
“We allow community job seekers to attend and they came with no resumes, wearing muscle shirts, baggy shirts, coats and some looked like they hadn’t bathed,” Gjerde said.
“Not all of the community job seekers were at fault either. There are some students that also don’t take the event seriously. Many just were told they had to show up for extra credit in class or it was a requirement.”
