MSU Career Fair finds employers still eager to hire students

By GAIL SCHONTZLER Chronicle Staff Writer

There may be doom and gloom on Wall Street, but company recruiters at Thursday’s annual Career Fair at Montana State University were optimistic they’ll still be hiring MSU students after graduation.

ERIK PETERSEN/CHRONICLE Melissa Bird, a Montana State University senior majoring in Finance and Economics, visits with a prospective employer Thursday morning during the MSU Career Fair. A record 188 employers sent representatives to MSU, and more than 2,000 students were expected to talk to them about jobs and internships.

Company display booths completely filled the Strand Union Building ballrooms, and overflowed into two SUB meeting rooms and a large white outdoor tent.

Only one employer, a heavy construction company, canceled, saying it’s not hiring now, said Carina Beck, MSU director of career and internship services.

Nine of the 10 employers on MSU’s advisory board told her they plan to continue hiring. The board includes a wide variety of fields, from Hewlett-Packard to Boeing, LigoCyte, UPS and the state Department of Health & Human Services.

The companies with problems have been in the housing and financial sectors of the economy, and it’s too soon to tell if that will trickle down to other areas of the economy, she said.

“I think we are cautiously holding our breath,” Beck said. “What we’re surprised at, delighted at, is this is a record-breaking year. There’s still employment, whether to replace (retiring) baby-boomers or for (company) growth.”

Aisles were crowded with students, many wearing ties or power pantsuits and carrying resumes, though one casually dressed individualist bucked the trend by toting his long skateboard instead.

“Oh yeah, absolutely,” Randy Crellin said when asked if his company, HDR Engineering Inc., still plans to hire students.

Crellin, a 1982 MSU grad himself, works in the Billings office of the firm, whose 7,400 employees design everything from bridges to high-voltage electrical transmission lines.

“Even if you lost money in the markets, every morning when you wake up you want to turn on the lights and take a hot shower,” he said. “We love to come here and recruit because the quality we get is tremendous.”

MSU grads work hard and realize the value of working in Montana, where they can hunt, fish and ski, he said. Starting pay of around $45,000 may be lower than in Southern California, but there’s no commute hassle or astronomical rent.

Grant Jamieson, 21, a Bozeman High grad who’s a senior in business management and owns a small construction business, said he was “absolutely not” worried about finding a job when he graduates.

“Being a college grad makes it a whole lot easier to expand your horizons,” Jamieson said.

He said he’s hoping to find work outside Montana and then, after a few years, come back to the state. His dream job would be to own his own company.

Kim Brooke, 21, a junior in accounting, came to look for a summer internship, and has a whole final year of college to wait for the economy to improve. She said she’s “not too worried” about the job market.

“It’s definitely something we’re watching in classes,” she said. “There’s always ups and downs in the economy.”

Brady Brown, 26, a senior in construction engineering technology from Idaho, said he was “definitely” worried about job prospects in his field.

“It sounds like heavy civil, road-building, bridge-building is still all right n it’s mostly funded by the government,” Brown said. So he figures he’ll probably get a job, but not the kind he’d prefer, in residential construction. “I have to lower my standards.”

Lili Liang, 23, a transportation engineering grad student from Shanghai, said she’s “a little worried” about finding a job. After she earns her master’s degree, she can spend one year getting U.S. experience before returning to China.

By far the greatest number of companies were listed as being interested in engineering majors. Second most popular were business majors, but more than 40 employers said they were interested in “all majors.”

Local firms included Barnard Construction, Big Sky Resort, Bioscience Laboratories, DA Davidson, Holcim and the Yellowstone Club. The IRS, FBI, U.S. Army, Navy, Marines, Interior Department, Border Patrol, U.S. Forest Service and Peace Corps were all represented. So was the U.S. Senate Finance Committee. There were companies from Texas to Minnesota to South Carolina.

Many recruiters planned to stay on campus Friday to interview individual students.

Gail Schontzler is at gails@dailychronicle.com or 582-2633.

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