With internship application deadlines nearing and graduation looming for seniors, the need to secure a summer gig or your first job out of college is becoming more of a reality for many students.

Scrolling on LinkedIn, Indeed, Glassdoor or other job search websites, the amount of open positions can seem overwhelming. Eyes glazed over from the blue-hued glow of the computer screen, you could apply to dozens of jobs in an almost mindless manner. 

Despite the relative ease of online applications, more Oregon State University students are turning to the university’s many career fairs to aid in their job hunt. 

Each year, the Career Development Center hosts around 22 career fairs, events where students meet with dozens of business representatives to make connections, learn about companies and open positions and drop off their resumes. 

Following the career fair is interview day, where students who applied to jobs and were asked back, interview with a company. Some even get jobs. 

During fall term, 3,673 students attended all nine career fairs, the most the university has seen in a term. 358 students participated in interview days. 

Natalie Huff, a junior horticulture and sustainability double major, has attended close to 10 career fairs during her time at OSU. She’s attended the large all-industry career fairs as well as career fairs geared towards incoming students and major-specific fairs. 

“I love getting to meet industry professionals and being able to make those connections,” Huff said, “especially being in my major, it’s kind of a small world.”

She’s been offered jobs when attending but hasn’t accepted any. For Huff, the career fairs offer an opportunity to gain access to unique resources, get advice and expand her network in a meaningful way.

“It’s not just like I’m just meeting them, just because I’m seeking a job,” Huff said, “ I am making a genuine networking connection.”

After graduation, Huff is interested in working in sustainability consulting. 

Ben Kiel, a sophomore construction engineering major, has had a similar experience with attending a career fair.

He wasn’t actively looking for a job as he was required to attend the fall Civil, Construction and Architectural Engineering career fair for his seminar class, but he still appreciated the opportunity to build connections. 

“I got to see all the companies that had connections to OSU and it was just amazing to see that,” Kiel said. 

Because of his positive experience, Kiel plans on attending more career fairs in the future. 

“I think it was more helpful than an online job search because the company also wants to be there because they showed up,” Kiel said. “If it is an online job ad, they might have just put it up and forgotten about it.”

Students aren’t the only ones who have experienced growing interest in career fairs.

“I think there’s been a growing interest in career exploration as a whole, and just trying to get our students ready after college, so that you don’t graduate and you’re like, ‘What am I supposed to do now?’” said Valerie Ferguson, event manager for the Career Development Center. “So there is, I think, a growing interest across the board, not just in our department.”

Ferguson said colleges have been asking to see more specific career fairs for their students. For example, the college of forestry asked for a forestry-specific fair.

Called “niche fairs”, Ferugson said they’re becoming more popular with students. 

After every career fair, students fill out a survey about their experience. The information is used to help plan for future fairs. The feedback is largely positive.

“Students say things like, they’re excited about how many opportunities there were, they’re excited about the free headshot because there’s free headshots at a lot of our fairs, too,” said Elizabeth Simmons, director of external relations for the Career Development Center. “They like all the swag.”

A common theme among responses according to Ferguson is that students are surprised how nice the recruiters are. 

“These employers, they wouldn’t come here if they weren’t hiring,” Simmons said. “They wouldn’t spend the money and the time and the effort to get here if they didn’t have really good opportunities to offer.”

Sometimes, students will request certain employers or fields in specific majors.

“We’ll try to get them for the next year’s fair,” Ferguson said. “And we have all of these spreadsheets and lists with all of these employers that we keep track of and invite them, and hopefully they’ll come next year.”

For information on career fairs, check out this link. 

“Everyone should go because there is nothing to lose and everything to gain,” Kiel said. “You walk on with no job and could walk out with one.”