Two-hundred and sixteen Gustavus students are currently registered for the Minnesota Private Colleges Job and Internship Fair, which is a record high for Gustavus and a large increase from last year’s 150 students.  Held on Feb. 19-20 at the Minneapolis Convention Center, the fair will seek to connect companies with undergrad students of Minnesota Private Colleges.

Associate Director of the Center for Servant Leadership and Director for Career Development Cynthia Favre will be attending her 25th fair this year. Favre is an enthusiastic advocate for the fair and has been working to get more students involved each year.

“What makes this fair different from other job fairs is that it’s only for undergraduate students, so people who have graduated can’t go to this fair… There is nobody there with their MBA or a Master’s degree and there is nobody there with ten years of experience, so everybody is sort of at the same place,” Favre said.

This two-day gathering of about 2,000 students and 350 employers will consist of interview opportunities as well as give students the chance to get their names and resumes out in the professional world.

Senior Joe Poblocki will be attending the fair for the third time. Upon first attending the fair his sophomore year, Poblocki made connections with a company that scored him an internship this past summer.

“The fair is basically a huge gathering of a bunch of different employers, and they are all there for you as a private college student. They are all there to check out candidates from a bunch of different fields and with a bunch of different talents and skill-sets for the possibility of fitting into these companies and I don’t think you’ll ever see another opportunity again in your undergraduate career, or otherwise, where you have something like that,” Poblocki said.

Office Coorinator for the Center for Servant Leadership Jill VanOsdol recommends that all students should visit the job fair multiple times.

“I think it’s important especially to even just start your job search if you don’t really know what you are looking for, just going to talk to different people will help you to figure that out,” VanOsdol said.

Board of Trustees Endowed Chair in Management and Leadership Kathi Tunheim has experienced the fair from both the recruiter and professor standpoints. In 1985, Tunheim, who was a recruiter for Republic Airlines, led an effort to hire over 50 MIAC students from the Minnesota Private College Job Fair alone.

“In 2007, when I came to Gustavus, I was surprised that there weren’t more students going to this. They didn’t understand really how hard the career center worked to get students there, and there just wasn’t that much interest,” Tunheim said

Since her debut at Gustavus, Tunheim has worked to help prepare students for the fair as well as increase the awareness on campus.

“I really believe that every student interested in getting a job after graduation needs to have at least two internships on their résumé to be a serious contender for a good job, the recruiters expect that,” Tunheim said.

It is no secret that Gustavus students are extremely involved on campus and perpetually short on time. However, Poblocki cautions students to remember to look ahead in the midst of it all.

“I think a lot of Gusties really tend to focus on the short term, looking at their immediate goals or their positions within campus or their grades for the next semester, and a lot of students tend to forget that they’re going to college to look for something after school, and to start their professional careers off on the right foot. So I think that the job fair is a tremendous opportunity for Gusties of any major to really take that first step out into life after Gustavus,” Poblocki said.

Tunheim encourages all students to consider going to the fair, whether they are looking to find jobs, internships, or simply interview experience.

“Something like 60 percent of all liberal arts grads wind up in business, but never again in your life will 350 companies show up in the same place and want to talk to you, this is a once in a lifetime opportunity,” Tunheim said.

Applications for next year’s Minnesota Private Colleges Job and Internship fair will be available in early November 2014. Interested students should keep an eye out for information sessions and registration dates.