Brandy Alexander ’02 greets Thea Desrochers, account coordinator for Strategy Associates in the San Francisco bay area, at a career fair organized by the PRSSA.

The event is put on during winter term by the Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA). Every term, the UO Career Center holds a career fair mainly targeted at students interested in the fields of sales and marketing. For the second year in a row, PRSSA wanted to do something different by bringing companies to campus that attracted students from the School of Journalism and Communication.

Last year, the Career Fair brought more than 200 journalism students together with professionals. This year, attendance was close to 300 students.

The Fair brought organizations from all over the West Coast, including The Oregonian, The Weber Group, The Silver Company, CB & S Advertising, Strategy Associates and Oregon Public Broadcasting.

"We view career fairs as valuable tools both in recruiting and increasing awareness of our organization to students interested in the field," said Ann Simmons, assistant account executive for The Weber Group. "We walked away from this fair with an armful of resumés."

On the other hand, PRSSA chapter president Kelli Matthews said, "Students need a chance to interact with communications professionals, present their talent, and see what opportunities await them after graduation."

PRSSA’s coordination of the event gave students like Adrian Ortiz, publicity chair for PRSSA, a chance to gain event planning experience. "Assisting with the event allowed me to display my professionalism to prospective employees," Ortiz said.

Senior public relations student Jenny Obermiller also benefited from the event. "The Fair helped me kick off my job search," she said.

The UO has become one of the top recruiting campuses according to Thea Desrochers, account coordinator for Strategy Associates in the San Francisco area. Desrochers said, "We have employed five graduates from the UO who have been very qualified and have excelled tremendously due to their superior attitude, work mentality and willingness to learn."