By Ana Ruiz Brictson | Staff Writer

At its Spring Career Day, Baylor’s Career Center hosted 114 employers, many of whom were seeking to hire students of various majors.

According to Career Center marketing communications coordinator Shelby Cefaratti, the total attendance for Wednesday’s fair was 1,892 students.

Hello Bello employer and 2021 Baylor alumna Hannah Atkinson said she got her current job from attending the fair. When she attended the fair as a student, she said she did research online and came across Hello Bello, making it her plan to show up to its booth when the day came.

“So I show up to the career fair, and I had actually already been in contact with the representatives through Handshake, which was a very helpful resource,” Atkinson said. “And so, I came up and I knew them by name and I gave them my resume. It was great to make face-to-face connection, and I was just able to further that conversation about what I was looking for, what they were looking for with the role.”

Atkinson said a few days after she applied, employers contacted her, and after three interviews, she got the job.

“I started part time, and then after I graduated in December, I moved to full time,” Atkinson said.

Atkinson said now being on the other side of the booth is surreal. She said she understands what it’s like to be nervous about the future, and she wants to encourage students to know that this is about finding the right position and that everyone has a place to be in.

As an employer, Atkinson said Hello Bello is hiring a lot right now — mostly full-time jobs, although during her time as a student with a part-time job, the company was really flexible with her schedule.

“We need all sorts of help,” Atkinson said. “We need engineers. We need marketing, graphic design, software development, supply chain. There’s a lot that we are hoping to need from students. And in the future, we really want to partner with Baylor students and get internships going.”

Gartner employer Courtney Payne said Gartner’s application period for seniors opens in August — almost a year before they expect to have the recent graduates begin working in June.

“Our targets can be anywhere from 30 to 40 students for a full-time role, very similar targets for internships,” Payne said.

Payne said Gartner loves interacting with Baylor students. She said this week, they had just hired three Baylor students.

Gartner’s internships last up to 10 weeks throughout the summer. Payne said one of the things she loves about the internships is they are meaningful, project-based work.

“Interns are touching high-impact work,” Payne said. “And it’s very intentional to really give them a sense of what it’s like to sit in that role full time.”

Payne said Gartner places a lot of trust in its interns and empowers them to be successful, take risks and grow.

Payne said one of the things she tries to practice as a recruiter is hiring for traits first. She said she looks into whether an individual embodies the Gartner traits before considering the fit of the role.

“Do they have a champion mindset? Are they coachable and teachable? Can they receive feedback? Are they lifelong learners? Are they really committed to continuous growth? Do they have that executive presence? Can they communicate their ideas effectively and efficiently?” Payne said.

Looking into hiring international students, Gartner does not guarantee a sponsorship. However, since it is a global company established in 100 countries, it does encourage students to apply with the opportunity for them to have a job in another country.

Payne said one of the things that she and Gartner are very passionate about is investing in students’ professional development.

“Any way that we can help share our expertise, whether that’s interviewing or career preparation, we love to also give back in those ways as well,” Payne said.

Dallas senior Evan Reyna said his experience throughout the fair was enjoyable and noted that everything had been very well organized.

Reyna said he had gone to the Career Center a couple of times leading up to the event to receive help updating his resume and making sure he had everything that he needed for the fair.

“As far as kind of researching for companies, one thing that I wanted to focus on was just making sure that I have an idea of the kind of skills and qualifications that most companies are generally looking for,” Reyna said.

Reyna said one of the things the Career Center did well is encouraging students to understand that even though an employer may not be listed as a company that is hiring their major, they should still reach out since at most times, it is not a limiting factor.