Students can talk to employers and pass out their resumes in the comfort of their own homes next week through a virtual career fair.
UF will be one of 27 universities participating in the Southeastern Conference & Atlantic Coast Conference Virtual Career Fair from April 1 to 3. The fair is open to all UF students and alumni.
This is the third year UF will participate in the fair, said Monica Moreno, assistant director for recruitment services at the UF Career Resource Center.
The number of employers more than doubled this year from 50 to 105, Moreno said. Employers can register until the day of the event.
Last year, 100 students participated, which was a decrease from the 220 students who participated two years ago. Moreno said she thinks this was because it wasn’t marketed enough.
She said she expects the number of participants to rise this year due to additional marketing efforts, schools and employers.
Virtual career fairs make it easier for students to participate, Moreno said.
“When you attend a virtual fair, you can attend while being on a bus, you can attend on an iPad or at home,” Moreno said.
Virtual fairs also allow more employers to participate because companies don’t have to send representatives to a university, Moreno said.
“It’s cheaper to do a virtual fair where employers can be anywhere in the world,” Moreno said.
This is the first time the Peace Corps has recruited from many universities in a virtual career fair, said Emily Whitfield, a regional recruiter for the Peace Corps.
Every year, the Peace Corps heavily recruits UF students. UF has the third-highest number of students in the program, Whitfield said.
“We always want the best students for national service,” Whitfield said, “and UF has that.”
[A version of this story ran on page 5 on 3/25/2015 under the headline “UF offers opportunity to participate in virtual career fair”]
