Career Showcase to be held in Southwest Recreation Center

UF’s career showcase is getting a new home.

The event, which starts today and continues Wednesday, will be held at Southwest Recreation Center from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. due to the renovations of the Stephen C. O’Connell Center, said Heather White, the director of the Career Resource Center. The move was planned for years, but the gym will stay open for regular operations.

The showcase, which is held every Fall and Spring, invites students and alumni to interview with companies for jobs and internships. The two days are broken up with one being nontechnical and one technical. She said between 6,500 and 8,500 students come each semester.

Students can take the bus or park in the Bledsoe lot across from Southwest Rec for two hours using the PassportParking app.

“Space is always the key factor for us, and then proximity for students to get to the event,” White said.

This year, 375 employers have registered to attend the event between both days, wrote Dana McPherson, the assistant director for marketing and communications for the CRC, in an email. During the first day, representatives from Amazon.com Inc. and Apple Inc. will attend, among others.

Ja’Net Glover, the senior associate director for career services at the CRC, said the center has been doing research since 2014 to find out where the showcase could be held during the O’Connell Center renovations.

She said the event will take up six basketball courts, racquetball courts and an activity room.

“We’re just excited about it,” she said. “The location’s gonna be different, but we’re very thankful for Southwest Rec for their hospitality.”