By: Justin Worthing ~Staff Writer~

Xavier’s Career Development Office (CDO) connected students with over 115 local and national organizations at the Spring Career Fair.

The career fair, which took place from 3-6 p.m. on Feb. 17 at Cintas Center, featured 30 new organizations that have not previously recruited at Xavier in past fairs.

All Xavier students, Xavier alumni and other students from nearby colleges and universities were welcome to attend the fair. At least one recruiter represented each organization, and many recruiters in attendance were former Xavier graduates themselves.

According to Jonika Moore-Diggs, associate director of Career Development, the career fair was primarily a networking event designed to create relationships between students and recruiters. Recruiters did not typically offer jobs or internships to students on site; rather, the career fair provided a space for students to give recruiters good impressions.

“Usually what happens is you walk up to an organization, you give them your 30-second elevator pitch and you might leave them with your resume,” Moore-Diggs said. “Then their job will be posted on E-Recruiting, which is Xavier’s online job and internship board, and then you’ll apply for that job … The connection that you made at the fair is realized when that individual looks at the resume (posted on the job board).”

The CDO also featured a LinkedIn Photo Booth, which started at the career fair two years ago. Students used the photo booth to create a professional profile picture for their LinkedIn accounts.

“LinkedIn has become a key tool in the internship and job search process for many individuals,” Moore-Diggs said. “We want to make sure our students are aware of it as a resource (and have) a free professional photo to add to their profile.”

According to LinkedIn’s official blog, profiles with photos are 11 times more likely to be viewed than profiles with no photos.

Although the fair was primarily designed for juniors and seniors, the CDO recommended that all students attend.

“We encourage first-year and second-year students to attend the fair and begin to build relationships with potential employers and become familiar with the event,” Moore-Diggs said. “We wouldn’t want (junior or senior year) to be the first experience at the fair because there’s already nerves.”

The career fair on Feb 17 was the last fair for the year, but organizations will hold individual booths and events throughout the rest of the semester. For more information about such events, visit the CDO’s website at xavier.edu/career.