Hold It and They Will Come:

First Career Fair Draws Big Crowd

More than 500 students and alumni converged on Webster’s main campus Feb. 7 to attend the University's first-ever career fair. The fair featured more than 100 representatives from 60 local and national employers, including Anheuser-Busch, Coca-Cola, Edward Jones, the FBI, the National Parks Service and Ralston Purina.

Corporate, government and nonprofit employers spent the day recruiting for internship, co-op, community service, part-time and full-time positions. Many employers said it was the best fair they had attended, ranking it nine out of a possible 10 on evaluation forms submitted after the event. The School of Business and Technology hosted the employer representatives at a private luncheon before the fair kicked off.

Tom Hilliard, director of Webster’s Career Services Department which sponsored the event, attributes the high turnout to savvier employees. “People are now continuously concerned about employment opportunities,” says Hilliard. “Even if they're gainfully employed, they’re always surveying the landscape to see what job opportunities are out there. And if they're not, they should be.”

Next year’s career fair, which is open to all Webster students and alumni, is slated for Nov. 21. Over 75 employers are expected.

Portions of this article were excerpted from a longer version written by Michelle Luraschi, associate director of Webster University's Career Services Department.

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