The UTEP Career expo is expected to draw thousands of students and more than 100 employers this year.
The expo will take place from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sept. 19 and 20 at the Don Haskins Center.
Betsy Castro-Duarte, associate director of the University Career Center, said the expo is slowly building itself back up to what it used to be 10 or 12 years ago, before the rise of unemployment, when more than 200 employers attended.
“Folks are still saying it’s hard to get a job, so we’re saying ‘look, look at all the employers that are coming,’” she said.
As of Sept. 16, 103 employers have registered to attend the expo. Castro-Duarte said this is the same number as last year, and is expecting several last minute sign-ups.
Employers registered to attend include Exxon Mobil, the Central Intelligence Agency, Tyson Foods Inc., Wells Fargo Bank and several other Texas state departments.
Last year 2,500 students attended the expo, Castro-Duarte said she hopes 3,500 attend this year.
She said it is important that freshmen and sophomores attend in order to get a better understanding of their career prospects and internship opportunities.
Red, white and blue ribbons will be available for veterans to wear. This new feature will help them be identified as they meet with employers.
“A lot of these men and women have developed great skills,” Castro-Duarte said. “Obviously, they gave their time and often their lives for our country, we want to recognize those that have come back.”
Employers from every major will attend the event, Castro-Duarte said. A list of employers categorized by major will be available on the Career Center’s website, but a specified date was not provided.
Employers will also be categorized by their citizenship requirements to help international students with visas find work and by degrees sought.
The majority of employers will be from outside of El Paso.
“It’s a good thing really,” said senior criminal justice major Alexis Arenivar. “It lets students get a feel for what it’s going to be like in the job market while giving them a variety of things to chose from.”
Arenivar said it’s better that most of the employers are from outside of El Paso because it brings a variety.
“Some people think we should probably leave more people in El Paso, get a better job market going—at the same time we don’t have a really good job market so it gives a better opportunity for to students to be more successful in life,” he said.
Castro-Duarte said it is hard to keep track of the number of students who are hired after the expo, so no data is available. But this year there will be a more aggressive effort to track how many students benefit from the event.
For a complete list of employers attending, visit the career center’s website at utep.edu/careers.
Jasmine Aguilera and Kristopher Rivera may be reached at [email protected]