The nation’s 7.9 percent unemployment and bleak job prospects might have motivated the record of 170 more St. Thomas students who attended this year’s Minnesota Private College Job Fair.

Becky Durham, Career Development Center specialist, said 650 St. Thomas students signed up for this year’s job fair, and she is very happy to have exceeded her goal for student attendance.

“The thing that is unique about St. Thomas, is we bring a record number of students to the fair each year,” Durham said. “Last year, we brought 480 students, and my goal for this year was to bring 500.”

Students attending the job fair seemed excited to show potential future employers what they’re made of. Senior Breanna Viere said she wanted to scope out the scene and see all the options in front of her.

“I’m going to see what these employers have to offer, and see which one are a good fit for me and if I am a good fit for them,” Viere said, “It’s also a really good way to get my name out there and practice networking.”

Durham said on-campus advertising from the Career Development Center helped with the big turnout.

“We have done an amazing job on the social media aspect, which is a new thing for us. We’ve put a lot of posts out on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook, as well as our usual print versions and emails,” Durham said. “It’s been one big blitz.”

Senior Lance Forrest said attending the job fair would be good for his future.

“It would be good to get ready for the real thing and practice interview skills at the fair so that I can be ready for any future experiences,” Forrest said.

Viere agreed that the fair provides an opportunity for students to ease into the application and interviewing process.

“It feels like less pressure with other people being there, because it doesn’t seem like all the eyes are focused just on me,” Viere said.

While the job fair is a perfect opportunity for students to soak in more than 200 employers, Durham said it is not a sure-fire way of getting hired in today’s job market.

“The analogy I tell students who are looking for jobs is not to put all their eggs in one basket, but this is one of the (baskets) that they should be using,” Durham said.

Alex Goering can be reached at goer8777@stthomas.edu.