Academics

More companies recruit at Abington Spring Career Expo

More than 60 employers recruited at the Abington Career Expo last week. Credit: Pamela Brobst / Penn StateCreative Commons

Penn State Abington students had the opportunity to connect with more than 60 employers last week at the annual Spring Career Expo. Many of these businesses have made the campus' spring and fall career fairs regular stops in their recruiting outreach.

Amy Gebhardt manages career development at Century 21 Alliance, which owns 14 real estate offices with more than 600 associates in southeastern Pennsylvania.

“The Abington students are so prepared and polished compared with those I meet at other college career fairs,” she said. “As a Penn State alumna, it makes me proud.”

Despite lingering worries about job growth, the event attracted 13 employers who had not recruited at the Abington expo before. SunGard, a leading software and technology services company, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation were among the newcomers, joining returning companies such as the Fox Chase Cancer Center and Vanguard.

Ethel O’Dea, program and job development coordinator in campus' Career Development Center, credits the increase in recruiters at the expo in part to the flourishing Abington alumni network.

“Abington has been granting baccalaureate degrees for more than a decade. Our alumni are in the position to give back by recruiting at Abington and seriously considering our students for positions,” O’Dea, who manages the career expo, said.

O’Dea also said that two first-timers at the event were there as a result of being the satisfied parents of students and alumni. “Their children had positive experiences at Abington, and now they are recruiting our students,” she said.

The Career Development Center at Abington provides a variety of services to alumni and current students searching for full- and part-time positions as well as internships and co-ops. For more information, go to www.abington.psu.edu/career-development.

Last Updated March 25, 2013