The Summer Job Fair Expo held in the St. Louis Room of the Busch Memorial Center gave students opportunities to find summer work and meet with personnel from St. Louis area businesses.

Students traded their casual dress of jeans and T-shirts for business suits and ties for the event held from noon to 3 p.m. on Tuesday, March 21.

Senior Jessica Hyder found out about the job fair from the Career Center. She came to the fair looking for job placement after graduation. “I feel like I’m running out of time,” she said.

Hyder was interested in finding a job in finance, her major, at places like A.G. Edwards and Boeing.

“I thought that it would be a great opportunity for networking even if I don’t find a position,” Hyder said. “At least, I will get my name out there.”

Tom Hilliard, a coordinator for the Career Center, said that the fair is a really great way for students to gather information.

The Career Center sponsors job fairs four times a year. The Summer Job Fair Expo provides students with information about summer jobs such as internships, co-ops and part-time work, which gears students more towards experiential learning. It provides students a sense of where they would like to work, Hilliard said.

According to Hilliard, what makes this fair unique is about one-fourth of the employers are actually trying to fill full-time positions not just internships or other summer jobs.

Hilliard also thinks the fair is a great opportunity for St. Louis University as a whole, not just the students who benefit from finding jobs. It is a great way to maintain relationships with employers and explore other activities with employers such as workshops about internships or resumes. Hilliard said that the event is “good marketing for SLU.”

“I came to find an internship for this summer,” said Casey Hohman, a junior who heard about the event by e-mail from the Career Center. As a marketing major, Hohman had never been to a previous fair. Prior to attending, Hohman found out which businesses would be represented on the Career Center web site.

Denis Coletto, a Human Resources Administrator for Panera/St. Louis Bread Company, came to recruit for the corporate headquarters, located in St. Louis. She knew about the fair, since she had a booth at one of the SLU job fairs last year.

Coletto came searching mainly for students who would be graduating in the areas of accounting, finance and construction. “It’s definitely a great opportunity for people to jump in,” Coletto said.

Stephanie Seel, representing Drury Inns, was a first-time participant in the fair. She was searching for students to do everything from internships and other summer work to finding managers for their hotels.

“We’re mainly looking for people versus positions to fill,” Seel said. Drury Inns will always be hiring since they are constantly opening new hotels, according to Seel.

She views the event as a wonderful opportunity to find someone with the right qualifications and personality. Seel said, “After we find the right person, it’s easy to find a position for them to fill.”

The event was attended by approximately 410 students and alumni and 74 employers. “We had an exceptionally good attendance,” said Carol Lunning of the Career Center. “It was the highest attendance of any other Summer Job Expo.”