Chico State’s Career Center hosted an imposing spectacle of approximately 100 employers ready to recruit students for potential internships, summer programs and  new hires Wednesday at the Bell Memorial Union auditorium. 

Students and business representatives alike dressed in professional attire as they intermingled in the crowded chamber. The career fair presented an opportunity for students to meet company employers in person, ask questions about job positions and learn how to make themselves more marketable. 

“I think a lot of times students are applying online and it feels like a big black hole. You’re just applying but you’re not hearing back,” said Megan Odom, director of the Career Center and Student Employment Office. “Today you actually get to meet someone, you get to have their contact information and you have somebody to follow up with.” 

Companies such as Comcast, Bay Alarm, Verizon, Chick-Fil-A, Target, Pepsi Co., Bay Area News Group, Lulus, Kohls and the 2020 Census Team were available and eager for face-to-face meetings. 

“Employers are in a highly competitive job market right now and we’re paying money to be here, investing a lot of resources and our livelihood is staked on how much talent production we have,” said Zach Bunting, a 2008 Chico State graduate and representative of Consolidated Electrical Distributors. “As a student, do away with the narrative in your brain that you need to have anxiety or that no one wants to talk with you.”

Bunting did not know what he wanted to do in terms of employment until he stumbled upon a career fair as a Chico student. Also at the fair was a LinkedIn photo shoot where students could receive headshot profile pictures.  

“The people in Chico are amazing. I already knew that and now the company does too,” said Ben Warren, a Paradise native and representative of Caliber Smart, one of the many companies that extended opportunities for summer internships. “Chico State did a great job. They’ve been very attentive to our needs. The whole thing has been great.”

The next Career Fair is scheduled for April 4.