The Tempe campus’ eighth student job fair hosted off-campus employers for the first time Tuesday in order to meet the demand for student jobs.
The number of on-campus departments looking for student employees has declined, said Career Services director Elaine Stover.
In 2008, 17 ASU departments came to the fair, while this year only 10 departments attended, she said.
Among the departments represented were Campus Recreation, Tell a Devil Network, University Housing and Career Services.
At the same time, the number of students in attendance increased from 1,036 in 2008 to 2,447 this year.
Stover explained that the many departments stopped attending the job fair because they could easily fill their positions by posting them online.
This was especially true for those departments that only have a few positions to fill because they can fill these positions efficiently online, Stover said.
Some departments that attended last year but not this year include Graduate Affairs and Parking and Transit Services.
“Some departments don’t want to come here to raise the hopes of so many students,” Stover said.
There were more than 130 on-campus jobs listed online that were not represented at the fair that day, she said.
Both the Downtown and West campuses invited off-campus employers at their first job fairs, in 2006 and 2007, respectively, Stover added.
In the past, the Tempe campus departments have been able to fill the students’ demand for jobs. However, the budgets for students’ salaries have been reduced, she said.
This compounded the need for more employers at the fair, Stover said.
The increased number of students living on campus won’t necessarily hurt an individual’s opportunity to find a job on campus, she said.
“More people on campus should create more employment opportunities because there would be more work for [the departments] to do,” Stover said.
Of the 452 off-campus employers invited to the fair, 25 came, including Moxie Girl, PayPal and Lucky Brand Jeans.
Some employers were excited by the enthusiastic response they received from the students.
Phoenix Zoo store director Kristin Fruen said the business’ 100 applications and 200 cards were gone in less than an hour. She said she felt confident the positions would be filled.
“The students we have hired have been a good fit,” Fruen said.
Anna and Faithie Ekbundit, owners of Thai Café and graduates of ASU, were also delighted to be at the event.
“We couldn’t think of a better way to give back to ASU,” Anna Ekbundit said.
Some students were pleased with the contacts they made, while others were frustrated with the crowd.
Jennifer Carlson, a geography graduate student, came to look for a job but left early.
“[You] don’t make contacts because there are so many people here,” Carlson said. “It’s kind of anonymous, so I’m going back home to use ASU’s online resources. It’s sort of chaotic and annoying.”
Miranda Calamity, a political science senior, who volunteered for Career Services at job fairs in fall 2008 and spring 2009 but returned this year to look for work at a previous job fair, thought that inviting off-campus employers was a good idea.
“There are a lot more employers here, a lot more variety,” Calamity said.
For any student still looking for a job, Stover offered final advice.
“Anyone who is here, who is serious … they should look online,” she said. “I am sure they can find something.”
The reporter can be reached at mshinn@asu.edu
