News

Career Fair fills Student Rec Center

Citing weak economy, representatives notice shift in student-to-employer ratio

By Chris Chase

Posted on Jan. 26, 2011, at 10:37 p.m.

The University of Maine’s annual Career Fair took place Jan. 26, bringing to campus a slew of employers seeking to fill out their ranks with some college talent.

The event, which ran from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the Student Recreation and Fitness Center, boasted a total of 83 participant companies; three canceled due to weather concerns. Employers on display ranged from the Maine State Police to the Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, an organization of nuns based in Quebec, Canada.

Judging from their reactions, it seemed the talent scouts were positive about the prospects present at the event.

“We love them,” said Vickie Shtatuck, a human resources representative of Quebec, Canada-based manufacturing company GL&V USA. “They’re good students. We’ve had a good success rate.”

Robert Fisher, an engineer for the same company, was surprised at the level of interested students applying for specific positions within his company, especially considering the fair’s breadth of participants.

“Being non-engineering focused, we’ve had a lot of engineering-focused students,” he said.

Maine television channels WCSH 6 from Portland and WLBZ 2 from Bangor were also present and were pleased by the number of students.

“We’ve had about 50 people visit our booth so far,” said Heather Seavey, a managing editor for WBLZ 2. “Probably 30 of them brought applications.”

She was enthusiastic about the career fair itself as well, saying it was a great way for students to “get to see what’s out there.”

The Pizzagalli Construction Company saw plenty of interest from students as well.

“We’ve been busy all day,” said Bob Correll, a training and development manager with Pizzagalli. “It’s great for employers. We could have filled the needs for this whole company at this fair.”

Sister Elaine Lachance, vocation director for Good Shepherd Sisters of Quebec convent of the Portland-based Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, also had positive things to say about her first time participating in the career fair.

“I’m really happy because, no matter who comes, something good always comes from that,” she said.

Many of the participants had experience with UMaine grads in the past.

“We’ve participated in this for seven years now,” said Paul Elkin, a UMaine graduate representing engineering firm TRC Companies, Inc. “We’ve hired dozens of engineers that have graduated from the University of Maine. The university does a real good job preparing the students.”

Tim Sommers, a senior project engineer with Pizzagalli and a UMaine grad himself, said he “found [his] first job at the career fair.”

The faculty members who organized the fair echoed the positive sentiments expressed by the participant employers.

“I’m very pleased,” said Patty Counihan, director of UMaine’s Career Center. “Any employer I’ve spoken with has been pleased. They’ve been very impressed with our students. I think the students have come to this very well prepared. One even asked if we coached students on how to make a good impression.”

This is the 15th consecutive year the career fair has taken place, and it seemed to the event’s veteran participants the current state of the economy had affected the turnout ratios.

“I think I’ve seen more people looking for jobs in the last couple of years,” said Laura Wade of WBRC Architects and Engineers.

Correll also felt the economy had cast a shadow over the fair.

“It’s a complete 180 from when I was looking for a job,” he said. “When I was looking for a job, it was the company’s job to impress me and make me want to be an employee there. Now, it’s the other way around.”

Even under the shadow, some students remained optimistic. Justin Whitney, a mechanical engineering student at UMaine, remained positive about job prospects coming from contacts made at the event.

“I’m pretty optimistic. It’s a good place to network,” he said.

Other students did not have quite as much luck. Zoology student Miranda Wiese said her major did not fit the needs of the participants at the fair, due in part to the evening’s weather forecast.

“The aquarium that I wanted to talk to was one of the participants that cancelled,” she said. “I did get a few flyers and whatnot.”

Maine State Police Cpl. Robert Burke, participating for the first time, seemed to echo the sentiments of everyone in the building.

“We’re definitely coming back,” he said.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 26th, 2011, 10:37 pm. You can follow any responses to this article through the RSS feed.