UMaine’s Annual Career Fair Connects
Students, Jobs
Jan. 25, 2005
Contacts: Patty Counihan, (207) 581-1359, George Manlove (207) 581-3756
ORONO – College students who want to leapfrog much of the job search
process after graduation might do well to consider attending the UMaine
Career Center's 2006 Career Fair Feb. 1 in the university field house and
Memorial gym.
From 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., the annual event is free to attend and will gather
more than 100 companies and organizations, whose representatives are
anxious to scout out future employees or interns from one of the biggest
educated young labor pools
around.
Companies registered this year represent a wide array of fields, including
construction, technology, healthcare, financial, educational, social
services, communications, recreation, military and government. Employers
also are in search of interns, teachers, engineers, foreign language
interpreters, nurses, park rangers, bankers, cadets, scientists, social
workers, customs agents, journalists, researchers, retail managers,
insurance professionals, landscapers, transportation specialists, medical
staffers and business professionals.
"We encourage every student, even if they haven't picked a major yet, to
go," said Patty Counihan, director of the UMaine Career Center. "You
rarely see this number of employers all under one roof. Learning about
what many of these companies do can even help students choose a major.
That's why we call it a career fair, not just a job fair."
Several of the organizations or companies new to the career fair this year
include the Federal Bureau of Investigation, T.Y. Lin International
structural engineers and the Lee County School District in Fort Myers,
Fla.
"We have a lot of students interested in the FBI, so that's a draw,"
Counihan says.
Worldwide Language Resources, a company that trains translators for
deployment nationally and around the world, also will be at the fair.
"It's fascinating," Counihan says of the Rumford, Maine company. "They're
based in Rumford. It really is a world-wide scope."
Serving as both career and job fair, the event provides an opportunity for
students to discuss products, services, workplace environment and benefits
with prospective employers. Seniors can get great leads – and interviews –
on job opportunities after graduation and underclassmen and women can
learn about internships or other experiential education opportunities to
help prepare them for when they are ready to enter the job market.
“It’s strictly information gathering, so they can explore what type of
careers they’d like to pursue,” Counihan says.
The career fair will have an Internet Café again this year, with eight
wireless laptops available for students to use for anything from
researching companies to registering with the Career Center’s eRecruiting
system to filling out job applications on-line, Counihan says.
As in the past, some of the companies participating in the career fair
will set up temporary offices in the Career Center, on the third floor of
the Memorial Union, for a few days after the fair to conduct follow-up
interviews.
Though specific numbers are unknown, Counihan says anecdotal evidence
suggests that hundreds of students do make solid job contacts during the
annual career fair.
As an added incentive to attend, there will be a drawing for door prizes
for those students who visit the Internet Cafe and register with the
Career Center eRecruiting system.
Additional information, including a list of employers and organizations
signed up for this year’s fair and tips on making the best use of the
fair, is available on the Career Center website at
www.umaine.edu/career or by calling the Career Center at
(207) 581-1359.
Counihan says students can learn some important do's and don'ts from the
Career Center Web site before heading off to the career fair, including
tips on dress, interviews, what to carry, what to say and how to prepare.
Career Fair 2006 is presented by the Career Center and sponsored by
Coca-Cola, Pike Industries, Sweetser, Acadia Hospital, Cintas Corporation,
Citigroup Global Transaction Services, Citistreet, CVS Pharmacy,
Enterprise Rent-A-Car, Irving Woodlands LLC, Lenovo, National Grid, Poland
Spring/Nestle Waters North America, T.Y. Lin International, Tyler
Technologies, MUNIS Division, UMaine Alumni Association, UMaine Bookstore,
UMaine Computer Connection, UMaine Corporate Affiliate Program, UMaine
Division of Student Affairs and Unicel.
