With a record 170 companies in attendance, Emily Neal, assistant director of the Career Center, said there were many opportunities for students to network and receive internships or full-time jobs at the All-Campus Career Fair on Wednesday.

Neal advocated this type of career fair because it is for students of all majors.

“Oftentimes, students feel like they don’t have any opportunities to receive internships unless they are in the business or engineering schools,” Neal said.

Nicole Eggenberger, senior in LAS, said she has been attempting to prepare for the real world as she searches for a summer internship after graduation.

Although it was her first time at the All-Campus Career Fair, she had previously attended the Business Career Fair. Eggenberger is majoring in Spanish and communications, and despite the range of companies in attendance on Wednesday, she had trouble finding more than a few that interested her.

“Since this is an all campus fair, a lot of the companies didn’t exactly fit for me,” Eggenberger said. “Once I knocked out the jobs not in my field of study, there were really only a limited amount of jobs applicable for me.”

Regardless of its specificity, Neal wanted students to take full advantage of the fair.

“(The Career Center) encourage students talk to about seven companies,” Neal said. “The more companies they talk to, the more likely it is they will receive a job or internship.”

Talking to more companies will increase your chance at getting an internship, but making yourself available is not the only thing companies look for.

Katlyn Froistad, office operations coordinator at MGA Research Corporation, said her company is not looking for major-specific people, but instead for those with the necessary passion and drive.

“We look for confidence, knowledge of the company, actual interest and self-motivated people,” Froistad said. “In order to know if they have these qualities, we try to look at their previous experiences and how they are presenting themselves now.”

Eggenberger agreed that the desire to work at a certain company is important, and will end up motivating the person to work harder and be happier in the end.

“I just wanted a paid internship, so I jumped on it,” Eggenberger said. “It ended up being an environment that I didn’t really connect with.”

As a recruiter, Froistad wanted to leave the students with a piece of advice.

“Interviewing goes both ways,” Froistad said. “It has to work for the candidate as well as the company, and I would say that would be the case for any company.”

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