Job Jamboree draws 1,500 students

1:41 p.m., Sept. 29, 2005--UD’s 37th annual Job Jamboree, held Sept. 27 in the Bob Carpenter Center, brought more than 200 organizations to the campus with information about their hiring needs and requirements.

Lynn Jacobson, coordinator of UD’s MBNA Career Services Center, has helped organize the Job Jamboree for the past 16 years. She said that since this career fair is organized to accommodate all majors, it is the largest one of the year.

“The Job Jamboree is more of a career fair than a job fair, so we get a large variety of different representatives. Companies are promoting their hiring needs for 2006, which allows students to start the job search early,” Jacobson said.

The companies at the Job Jamboree often return to UD to follow up with campus interviews.

The majority of companies were looking for potential employees with accounting and engineering majors, since these firms start recruiting early. Also in attendance were local and regional companies, such as Dupont, QVC Inc. and Wilmington Trust.

“I know that meeting with the major accounting firms today is essential because they usually finalize the contracts by the end of fall semester, so I wanted to get an early start to increase my chances of getting a job,” Chris Fox, a senior math major and economics minor, said.

The career fair is a critical stage for seniors, since they get to meet potential employers for the first time and establish business contacts, which will be the first step in their yearlong job search.

Rachel Smith, a senior civil engineering major, acquired her internship at last year’s Job Jamboree. She attended this year’s fair to scope out potential employers for after graduation.

“There are so many engineering companies here to speak with. I got to hand my resume to four or five different representatives, which will hopefully help me begin the interviewing process in a few months,” Smith said.

Larger national companies at the fair, such as Target and Abercrombie & Fitch, offered jobs in many different academic areas, including part-time jobs for younger students. Government agencies, including the Delaware State Police, New Castle County and Pennsylvania Department of Transportation also had representatives available to speak with students.

“I feel that everyone should check out this fair, it’s so large that most students will benefit from talking with a few companies. There really was a table for every interest,” Mary Clifton, a junior history major, said. “Even though I’m not looking for full-time employment right now, I found some representatives who needed part-time help during the school year.”

Student turnout was estimated at more than 1,500 people, with a steady crowd passing through The Bob until the representatives began packing up at 4:30 p.m.

“The economy is finally back up again, so this has been our largest career fair since 2000. The response we’ve gotten from both representatives and students has been fantastic,” Jacobson said.

A complete list of employers who attended the Job Jamboree can be found at [www.udel.edu/CSC/jamboree.html].

Article by Kim Sharrah, AS ’06
Photo by Sarah Simon, AS ‘06

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