Companies swarm CSULB for prospective employees

By David Whisler
Online Forty-Niner
Staff Writer

A sea of business suits and sensible ties filled the University Student Union on Thursday as the Career Development Center hosted this semester's job and internship fair.

Over 135 prospective employers attended the fair hoping to recruit some of Cal State Long Beach's finest.

A wide variety of industries were present, employers included Disney, Wal-Mart, Cal Trans, the counties of Los Angeles and Orange, Twentieth Century Fox, the Los Angeles and Long Beach Unified School Districts and even Harley Davidson.

The fair officially started at 1 p.m., but eager job seekers were lining up early and many employers took the time to speak with the early birds.

"Ninety-five percent of all student interns come from job fairs," ABC Recruitment Coordinator Brae Casillas said. "It's ABC's goal for interns to go on to permanent positions with the company."

Employers used various methods to entice prospective students. Some were actively recruited from the crowd and some were drawn in by the eye-catching displays, but the most popular, and likely the most effective way of catching any college student's attention seems obvious, it's the freebies.

Tables were overflowing with various offerings, all emblazoned with the company logos, of course.

Key chains, carabiners, stress balls, magnetic clips, address books, T-shirts, pens and highlighters were among the loot that students made off with.

One company even gave away bobble heads dressed in graduation gowns, and students visiting the Toyota table got a free bag to carry all of the stuff home.

This is the eighth job fair that Victoria Anderson has participated in this semester. "Job and internship fairs are vital for recruiting new employees," the Human Resources Representative from Pepsi said, "Pepsi has a very focused campus recruitment program."

Connie Louis is on the hunt for a job, the business and finance major will be graduating soon and hopes to find a position in financial management. This is the third job fair that she has attended as a student at CSULB and it is "one of the better ones, as far a companies represented," she said.By all appearances the job and internship fair was a success, "more employers have come back, it seems that the economy is turning around," Career Counselor Robert Wendt said.

The fair was a big event on campus, but not everyone was interested. Freshman Cheryl Hannigan chose to steer clear, "this is my first semester and I am trying to just get comfortable on campus before I dive into school and work," she said.

"Internships are absolutely essential to determine your next move after college," Assistant Professor Katie Gibson said.

The Career Development Center will host its next fair in the spring, but students seeking a job or internship are urged not to wait. Help in finding the perfect position is available at the CDC, located in Brotman Hall - 250. Job seekers can visit their Web site at www.careers.csulb.edu, or call (562) 985-4151 to schedule an appointment.