Annual Career Fair to host 105 companies for students

Cheyanne Crum, Features editor

The Career Development Center is sponsoring the 24th annual Mercyhurst Career Fair. The fair is scheduled to be held in the Mercyhurst Athletic Center from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. on April 7.

“As of [Monday], 105 companies and agencies are registered to attend,” said Frank Rizzone, associate director of Career Services and Cooperative Education. The list of companies includes UPMC, Country Fair, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Rue 21, Wegmans and Defense Intelligence Agency.

“These recruiters are coming to talk to students about internships, summer part-time and full-time jobs,” Rizzone said. All current students and alumni are welcome to attend. The fair is also open to the surrounding colleges such as Gannon, Edinboro, Penn State Behrend and Allegheny.

Rizzone encouraged students to come to the fair early and for faculty to be flexible in allowing students to attend the fair. “Faculty can bring classes to the event, make it a class assignment or give students extra credit,” Rizzone said.

Although there are not exact numbers of how many students get jobs or internships from the Career Fair, Rizzone said they do know that enough students are successful to allow the fairs to continue.

“Keep in mind that this is just the first of many steps in the job hunting process,” said Rizzone. “Working a Career Fair helps to generate leads, first contact with companies and hopefully a call back.”

These fairs allow students to see what companies are looking for in their applicants while teaching them how to sell themselves in a small amount of time.

Students that attend the fair on April 7 are requested to bring many copies of their resumes to give out and dress in professional attire.