Mandi Marcus/ The Towerlight

Last year, junior Mariah Alber was among the crowd of hopeful Towson students searching for opportunities at a career fair.
However, Friday in the Towson Center, Alber found herself on the other side of the job search, looking to potentially hire students at the Maryland Career Consortium career fair.
“It’s like a full circle, I started here and now I’m helping here,” Alber said.
Alber was hired after meeting Alissa Yagi, a national recruiter for J&L Marketing.
Yagi said that career fairs are important because they allow students to make an impression on employers.
“I like that face-to-face action, I get to meet students, I get to know their energy a little bit and understand how they really interact with people,” Yagi said. “A phone interview doesn’t tell you very much and that’s why I like to come to career fairs so I can meet wonderful students.”
The Maryland Career Consortium gave students from 14 schools in the Baltimore area the chance to interact with 138 employers. For two years, the career fair was held at Loyola.
This year, it returned to Towson’s campus, Career Center Director Lorie Logan-Bennett said.
The career fair included employers from eBay and Johns Hopkins Bayview to more unconventional employers, such as The Maryland Zoo in Baltimore and Catholic Charities.
Logan-Bennett said that having the fair back at Towson presented great opportunities for Towson students.
“[They can gain] connections with employers for internships, for full-time jobs. We have some summer employers here as well so it’s a great way to connect and network and be successful,” she said.
Junior business major Stephen Torres said he agrees that having the fair on campus is helpful for students.
“I think it’s awesome. I think it’s a great opportunity for all of our students and also to put Towson on the map.”
Torres said that he liked the atmosphere at the fair.
“I think everyone’s here to make the most of it and go for it,” he said.
Alber said she urges Towson students to not be intimidated by career fairs.
“Look what happened to me,” she said. “I went to the last one and got hired and now I’m helping out at the next one, so it’s a great way to network, meet people, just to keep your options open to all types of jobs.”