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Alfond Arena hosted a full house on Thursday, with 124 organizations and thousands of students discussing employment options at the University of Maine’s Career Fair 2004.
Upon entering Alfond, students were greeted by employees and volunteers from the UMaine Career Center. Students were then asked to sign in, take a packet and seek help from staff when necessary to point them in the right direction.
Students also came from other colleges to attend the fair, including a student from Thomas College in Waterville, who came because UMaine’s fair had more employers than the fair sponsored by Thomas College.
Employers come from a broad array of fields, including finance, construction, communications, health care, research, recreation, science, technology, marketing, law enforcement and summer camps.
Mercy Hospital of Portland, one of the fair’s employers, is working on keeping Maine graduates in the state. Representatives said they are looking for prospective employees to bring ” fresh, new ideas to Mercy.” Some of the hospital’s job listings included accounting, environmental services and outpatient counselors.
“Everyone should be at this career fair, no matter what they are majoring in,” said Molly Roberts, human resource specialist for Mercy.
Other opportunities at the career fair may not have been discovered without visiting Alfond. Two third-year students looked for internship possibilities in accounting and finance. They were both hopeful in finding an internship, but said meeting people within related organizations can be useful in the upcoming job search as well. A first-year graduate student checked out the market and was searching for employment in civil engineering.
In 1999, the career fair hosted only 22 employers, but grew substantially by 2001, when it had to be moved from Memorial Union to Alfond to accomodate a growing number of interesed students.
“We try really hard to have something for everyone here,” said Patty Counihan, director of the Career Center, in a recent press release.
Both students and employer representatives have found previous UMaine career fairs educational and productive, Counihan said. Many students have found jobs and internships by attending, she said.
“We generally have about 2,000 students attend, so employers are certainly happy,” she said.
Counihan said the goal of the career fair is to give students a closer look at the types of companies or organizations for which they might like to work after graduation and to learn about internships that offer both credit and on-the-job exposure for a chosen career field.
While second- and third-year students may have specific questions about a company or job, first-year students can also learn about career opportunities, Counihan said. The sooner students educate themselves about career decisions, the better, particularly in Maine’s tight job market, she said.
“Generally speaking, if jobs aren’t filled right there on the spot, there are lots of follow-up contacts” that result from introductions made at the university career fair, she said.
Other employers at the fair included Bath Iron Works, CDM, Central Maine Medical Family, Enterprise Rent-A-Car, Irving Woodlands, LLC, Maine Municipal Association, MBNA America, National Grid, Pike Industries, Inc., Rural Cellular Corporation (UNICEL), UMaine Corporate Affiliate Program and Woodard & Curran.
