UMaine Career Fair January 29, 2004
Contact: George Manlove at (207) 581-3756
ORONO — The University of Maine Career Fair 2004 on Thursday, Jan. 29 could be the first step toward or even into the job market for students exploring career options.
More than 120 businesses, organizations and institutions will send representatives to Alfond Arena from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. to meet with students, describe employment options, internship opportunities and answer students’ career questions.
While the career fair is a University of Maine event for UMaine students and alumni, students from all other colleges and universities in Maine are welcome to attend the event.
Both students and employer representatives have found previous UMaine career fairs educational and productive, according to Patricia Counihan, director of the University of Maine Career Center. Many students have found jobs and internships by attending.
“We generally have about 2,000 students attend, so employers are certainly happy,” she says.
“It’s so convenient for students. One hundred twenty two employers are going to be here, right on campus.”
Employers come from a broad array of fields, including such areas as finance, construction, communications, healthcare, research, recreation, science, technology, marketing, law enforcement and summer camps.
Counihan suggests that students prepare themselves in advance of the career fair by visiting the university’s Career Center website. The site includes a list of the companies, organizations and institutions that will be present Jan. 29, nutshell information about them, various disciplines that might be best suited for employment at those places, plus links to company websites.
The listing is a comprehensive collection of potential employers in Maine and New England, with important information about those employers and contact information.
Students who do a little homework before the career fair usually are best positioned to make the most of the day, says Counihan.
“Look at the website, think about questions and identify who you want to talk to most, and make the best use of the time,” she says. “We ask students to bring their resumes to have prospective employers critique them.”
Counihan notes that the goal of the career fair is to give students a closer look at the types of companies or organizations for whom they might like to work after graduation and to learn about internships that offer both credit and valuable on-the-job exposure to a chosen career field.
While second- and third-year students may have very specific questions about a company or job, first-year students can learn a great deal about career opportunities. The sooner students educate themselves about career decisions, the better, according to Counihan, particularly in Maine’s tight job market.
“Generally speaking, if jobs aren’t filled right there on the spot, there are lot of follow-up contacts” that result from introductions made at the university career fair, she says.
The Career Fair has grown dramatically in the last five years. In 1999, 22 employers attended the fair. By 2001, the fair was so popular it had to be moved from the Memorial Union to Alfond Arena to accommodate the increasing number of participating students and employers.
Complete information about the career fair is available at the Career Center Web bsite, or by calling the center at 581-1359.
In addition to the University of Maine, supporting sponsors, which also will have booths at the fair, include Bath Iron Works, CDM, Central Maine Medical Family, Enterprise Rent-A-Car, Irving Woodlands, LLC, Maine Municipal Association, MBNA America, Mercy Hospital, National Grid, Pike Industries, Inc., Rural Cellular Corporation (UNICEL), UMaine Corporate Affiliate Program and Woodard & Curran.