More than 215 employers from across the country were in attendance at the job fair Wednesday at the Convocation Center.

NIU students, local residents and students from other universities came out hoping to impress the employers. The fair was put together by Career Servcies.

Alyssa Klecka, a University of South Florida graduate with a double major in management and elementary education, was impressed by the fair.

“The amount of employers NIU pulled in is amazing,” Klecka said. “There’s obviously been a lot of forward thinking going on to help out students and the community, as well.”

One of the ways Career Services improved the fair was to add pre-registration.

“We did pre-registration for the first time this season and it has been very good for us with communicating with students in advance,” said Brandon Lagana, director of Career Services planning and assessments.

He said the improved relationships with faculty and staff helped attract more students to the fair. So did workshops held earlier in the week, like Oct. 16’s ABC’s of Getting an Internship, when attending students could ask questions about obtaining internships.

“The relationships we’ve been building with faculty have been very important,” Lagana said. “Students have been responding to direct mail and social media posts. We’ve had many programs like ABC’s of Getting an Internship and the workshops for preparation.”

Student participation has also increased from year to year and one of the students in attendance was junior finance major Kevin Parr.

“The fair is very impressive, very well-rounded, very well put together,” Parr said. “Everything flowed smoothly.”

Lagana was impressed by the number of people present and sees the Job Fair as a great opportunity for students.

“We’re really proud of the turnout from NIU students,” Lagana said. “Employers get to see you, get to know your skills. It’s more that just having that paper or electronic copy of your resume.”