Career Fair Most Successful Yet

Noele Winans, director of the Career Placement Center, strolls the aisles of the
exhibits at the Career Fair. (photo MP)
The spring Career Fair on February 19, presented by Career Planning and Placement, doubled in size this semester, according to Noele Winans, director of the Career Placement Center. Compared to the fifty companies that were here last fall, this spring there were one hundred companies and government agencies. Fortune 500 companies such as Sprint, Sears Roebuck and Co., and Cisco Systems came from all over the country to entice Chico State students with co-op, internship, and employment opportunities.

The fundamental idea behind the Career Fair is to allow students to make connections to the job market. Some students dropped off resumes and talked with potential employers, while others got ideas and information on what it is employers are looking for and how the job market in their area is shaping up.

From graduating economics student Matt Deatrick's perspective, the Career Fair was "much larger in scope, than I had imagined. I felt I would be meeting and talking to a lot of people, but I did not expect to make any serious contacts. After attending this morning, however, I think I will get some good job offers from some of the contacts I have made."

Another graduating business student, Joanne Ek, whose specialty is strategic planning, was on a fact-finding mission. She wanted to "get a feel for who is hiring out there and find out what employers are looking for." She was not disappointed: with one hundred companies representing a broad field of business and industry, there were plenty of chances to find out about employment opportunities.

The Career Fair was not just for seniors. Many of the companies represented in this year's Career Fair were actively recruiting co-op students and interns. Spectra Physics, a custom optical components manufacturer, based in Mountain View, with factories in both Oroville and Mountain View, is an excellent example. "We are currently recruiting co-op students who are pursuing careers in physics, management information systems, process engineering, mechanical engineering, and operations management," said George M. Balogh, vice president and general manager of Spectra Physics. Balogh said that this was Spectra Physics's first visit to the Career Fair, but that he was no stranger to Chico State graduates. Spectra Physics employs several Chico alums and finds them to be pragmatic and experienced with hands-on training in their fields. "This is not typical of all schools, many of which tend to be more theoretical. Chico State graduates learn quickly and can be thrown into a problem-solving environment right away," said Balogh.

Other business representatives from employers such as Norwest Financial and the San Jose Police Department also cited strengths of Chico State graduates and how they coincide with what they are looking for in employees: maturity, problem solving ability, excellent communication and writing skills, an ability to work well with others, and most important, some practical experience in their fields of study.

For more information on Career Planning and Placement and the Career Fair, check out their Web Site at http://www. ecst.csuchico.edu/plc.