Though finding a job right now may be daunting, the school's career services director said things appear to be looking up. "I don't want to pretend... it is still a tough time out there as far as the job market goes. The job market for new college graduates -- the trends are a little better this year than it was for last year's graduate," said Rita Bocchinfuso-Cohen, Fresno State's Director of Career Services.
Bocchinfuso-Cohen said employer participation in this fall's job fair is slightly better than last year. She added when it comes to selling yourself, opportunities like these help. "If you're a person that has great interpersonal skills, you want to be at a job fair. Employers are still very interested in that, it's hard to train for, and they train for the skills you need for the job if you have the interpersonal skills that they're looking for," said Bocchinfuso-Cohen.
Tom Ditto with Challenge Dairy came to the job fair looking for two sales management trainees. He agreed that interaction is critical. "We cherish this one on one communication. It's ironic that people say, 'What's the next step? Do we apply online'? No. I don't understand how you can evaluate a person online. So that is exactly why we're here," said Ditto.
Fresno State senior Eric Morona attended Wednesday's job fair to meet with several different employers. He is scheduled to graduate in December and hopes to find a job before then. "I'm very proactive. I'm very motivated and self-driven. I think that's the only way you can get a job in today's job market," said Morana.
