180 employers visit UNC for job fair

Seniors who are dreading an approaching entrance in to the real world — and underclassmen who want to get ahead — have more than 100 chances to make a good impression today.

University Career Services is hosting a career fair with more than 180 employers as part of the department’s week of events intended to help students find jobs and internships.

Employers ranging from Target, General Mills, Teach for America, LinkedIn and even the CIA will recruit students for job openings and internships.

“The intent is to have it appeal to as many students as possible,” said Jeff Sackaroff, associate director of University Career Services.

For college students, the unemployment rate rises after May and June graduations as new graduates enter the workforce over a short, two-month period, according to Georgetown’s Center on Education and the Workforce.

But for the hundreds of thousands of college graduates each year, internships could offer a quicker path to employment.

Sackaroff said internships are an asset for students in their career search.

“Internships are becoming an expectation for many employers,” he said.

“They expect students to have some types of experiences that connect what they’ve learned in the classroom to real world experience.”

Forty percent of juniors who complete an internship will be offered a position at the company they interned at, Sackaroff said.

Kaitlin Williams, a senior business major, is a Career Peer for University Career Services.

“We’re trying to show that University Career Services isn’t a place to go to for a job, it’s a place for you throughout your four years at UNC to figure out what career path you want to go on,” she said.

UCS will also host mock interviews for students on Sept. 18.

Williams said visiting UCS helped her get an internship over the summer and later secure a job with the same company.

“Little things to help you realize where you want to work, where you don’t want to work, and is a way to show people at interviews that you are thinking about your career,” she said.

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