On Thursday, Sept. 15, the Career Development Center at Binghamton University will bring more than 80 for-profit, government and not-for-profit organizations to campus for its annual Job and Internship Fair.

Among the list of organizations are many well-known companies such as Frito-Lay, KPMG and Microsoft. The fair will be held in the Events Center from 11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

Francis Borrego, a career counselor at the CDC, said that the Job and Internship Fair is a great opportunity for all Binghamton students considering the current state of the economy.

“Obviously in this tough economic environment we believe it is important for students to take full advantage of the fair to enhance their career [and] employment goals,” Borrego said.

The CDC offers several services that will help students prepare for the event, such as advisers who will work with students to revise their résumé prior to the event.

Students like Joey Lesner, a senior majoring in accounting, and Bryan Nearnberg, a senior majoring in economics, both feel that the Job and Internship Fair is a valuable tool for students.

Lesner, who has attended the fair every year that he has been a student at BU, has come to understand the value of networking with recruiters. He has gotten to know several employers in the past and looks forward to meeting employers from the Big 4 accounting firms, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and other Wall Street enterprises.

But he has also come to recognize the importance of the pressure generated at the Job and Internship Fair.

“It’s pretty intense with all the long lines,” Lesner said. “So it’s really important to make a quick and memorable first impression because the 30 people behind you might have a better résumé than you.”

Nearnberg, who attended his first Job and Internship Fair last year, has been preparing in a number of ways to build up his confidence for the event. He’s been researching the organizations that will be at the fair, polishing his résumé and, perhaps most importantly, he’s been preparing his “30-second elevator pitch,” a quick speech that he will use to make a good first impression to employers.

“It’s important to think about your coursework and extracurricular activities and make that into a good fit for what [the employers] are looking for,” Nearnberg said. “You want to rehearse your elevator pitch a few times, but you don’t want to memorize it or anything, you want to make it sound natural to the employer.”

Nearnberg sees the Job and Internship Fair as a win-win situation for all who attend. According to Nearnberg, even if you do not walk away from the fair with a job, there is much to learn just from attending.

“There’s nothing to lose. The worst case scenario is you don’t get a job, but even if you don’t get a job, you’ve still started networking,” Nearnberg said. “I learned a lot just by going last semester, since then I’ve become a networking machine.”

Despite their enthusiasm for the fair, both Lesner and Nearnberg feel that it is geared more toward School of Management and economics students and might not be quite as relevant for liberal arts students because of the types of organizations that come to campus.

The CDC reminds all students who plan to attend to bring copies of their résumé and recommends business casual dress at a minimum.