Business Horizons Draws Students and Recruiters

More than 1,700 students attended Business Horizons last month. The one-day career fair, organized by Pamplin undergraduates, featured a total of 160 employers and more than 600 recruiters, including representatives from 63 companies that were first-time participants in Horizons.

Business Horizons Booths in Squires

Though more than 80 percent of the student attendees were Pamplin majors, the event drew students from six other colleges: 107 from Liberal Arts And Human Sciences; 60, Engineering; 54, Science; 28, Agriculture and Life Sciences; 14, Architecture and Urban Studies; and 3, Natural Resources. Eleven students were in Interdisciplinary Programs.

Not surprisingly, 870, or 50 percent of the student total, were seniors. The remainder included 509 juniors, 169 sophomores, 102 master's students, 59 freshmen, and 2 doctoral students.

The opening hour, 10-11 a.m., of the six-hour fair was its most popular, with 441 students arriving. Attendance was lowest in its final hour, with 67 students.

Gary Kinder, Pamplin’s undergraduate career services director, said the statistics are obtained when students arrive at the fair, held at the Squires Student Center Commonwealth and Old Dominion ballrooms, and check in by swiping their Hokie Passport ID cards.

He and the student organizers have received favorable comments from several employers. One noted how much he enjoyed Horizons this year. "I have been coming to this event, I believe, from almost the very beginning, and this was the best I ever attended. The student leaders and volunteers were so well organized and helpful it made for a perfect day."

Kinder thanked the college's faculty for their attendance at the fair and the employer reception. "Your input and feedback to our employer colleagues is invaluable to them. We remain on many of these companies' short list of places to recruit, largely because of the positive overall response they receive while recruiting on campus."