Pace University’s Associate Director of Graduate Outcomes and Career Advising Kimberly Porter prepared all year for what she and her staff refer to as “the wedding.”

“The wedding”, which will take place on Oct. 7 at the Goldstein Fitness Center, is actually the University’s Career Fair.

“There’s a team of seven. It takes an endless amount of time all year. We start preparing for it the day after the career fair,” Porter said. “It’s not just ordering sandwiches and flyers. It’s building relationships so [recruiters] want to come.”

More than 100 employers attend the career fair. According to Porter, “a huge cross section” of industries is represented at the fair. Companies like JP Morgan, Enterprise, and Omnicom send recruiters. Afterwards, some representatives may choose to conduct onsite interviews.

Porter encourages students to prepare for the career fair in advance and to take advantage of the opportunities offered by Pace Career Services—such as events like How to Work the Career Fair and Practice Interview Day.

Students are advised to explore different industries on the Career Services website. There, students will find a list of attendees and the positions available. Students can research companies and “personalize [their] pitch” to each company according to Porter.

“What you have to offer to each company is different. Go to their homepage and see what’s going on with them. Go to the about page and read about them. Take notes. Go to their HR page and find out why it’s good to work there.” Porter said. “Make a list and practice that list of why you want to work there. Know your industry.”

Porter suggests that students keep a personal file to build their resumes. Drop-in resume reviews will be held in Kessel Suite 200 and Mortola Library Sept. 30, Oct. 2, 5, and 6 from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. Students can make appointments with advisors or attend resume and interview workshops.

“It’s good to connect with your counselor because they’ll want to help you through the interview process, hiring process, salary negotiations, and even deciding between multiple offers,” Porter said. “Your representative knows what these employers want.”

Graduate student Chris Kaduthanan is researching more options and attending the New York City campus career fair as well as Pleasantville’s. Kaduthanan has never been to a career fair before.

“From what I’ve seen, [there’s] a lot of job websites where you can put up a resume and the school sends out emails about job opportunities. Career Services is usually going to be your primary source of job opportunities.” Kaduthanan said. “I feel like the city campus is the main graduate campus and all the New York City based companies will be there.”

The New York City campus will hold its career fair on Oct. 1, and the Pleasantville campus on Oct. 7.