About 200 students attended the NIU marketing department’s “Meet the Firm” job fair Monday at the Holmes Student Center’s Duke Ellington Ballroom.

About 30 marketing- and sales- related companies attended.

Rick Ridnour, job fair organizer and a College of Business professor, said the night served as an informational night where students could become better acquainted with the companies and be prepared for the job fairs in the spring.

Ridnour said he attributes the abundance and diversity of companies in attendance to networking with NIU alumni who now work with the companies and direct recruiters.

The hiring rate for NIU students from the job fair is about one out of three attendees, Ridnour said.

Ridnour said that the two-hour fair looked like a success.

“[The companies] are amazed at the quality of the students that are here tonight … quality defined as professional, confident, able to communicate, respectful, and they want to come back,” he said.

Bob Page, senior account manager for Philip Morris, has attended every “Meet the Firm” event since it began over a decade ago. He agreed with Ridnour’s praise for the students in attendance.

“The training they give to the students is second to none,” Page said. “Here at Northern, they teach them how to sell, they teach them selling is a great career, and students are better prepared.”

Page said Philip Morris hires an average of four NIU students every year and he is looking forward to seeing familiar faces at the spring job fairs.

Marcus Smallwood, a senior corporate communication major, said it was beneficial to meet and greet the different companies and see which ones he might want to work for in the future.

“A lot of these companies are really high quality and for them to come to Northern, I think that’s great and I just really wanted to take advantage of it,” Smallwood said.