The Career Center hosted one of the largest job fairs in the Midwest on Tuesday.

The event drew 104 school districts and approximately 400 students who had the chance to have interviews with potential employers.

“The goal was to provide students with opportunities to interview with many schools, and the success rate of them actually being hired is very high,” said Andrea Gutierrez, assistant director of the Career Center.

Gutierrez said planning for the event started in January and she thinks the finished product shows everyone’s hard work.

“This is my favorite event, and not because I take the lead,” Gutierrez said. “It takes all of us to do our part, and it truly is amazing,”

Besides giving students the chance to meet employers, another goal was to provide experience and help with nerves.

“When [the students] came in they were nervous. You could tell they were more relieved at the end of the day,” said Erica Walters, who works as an assistant recruiter for College of Education and Human Development.

Employer Melvin Brown helped students with their nerves prior to interviewing.

“I try to make it fun, have [students] tell me about their day, connect with them personally,” said Brown, director of Human Resources at Cuyahoga Community College said. “[Interviewing] can definitely be stressful. I’ve been there myself.”

Senior Jaime Steele attended the event and says it benefitted her greatly.

“I had no idea what to expect at first, how everything was set up,” Steele said. “It was a great learning experience. I became more confident.”

Early childhood major Victoria Parrish stayed calm throughout the day.

“If you go into [an interview] with the attitude ‘You have nothing to lose,’ it’s easier to answer questions,” she said.

Emilee Blake, a middle childhood education major, used the same strategy as Parrish.

“I scheduled 12 interviews. I’m pretty confident,” she said.

Gutierrez said although many hours were put into this event, the overall product was worth it.

“I get my fulfillment from my job by seeing the results,” Gutierrez said. “I see students more comfortable [after], and I do see a difference from their first interview to their seventh.”

Walters also received a sense of satisfaction about her role and involvement.

“I liked interacting with [the students] and being able to hear what they had to say,” she said.

While Gutierrez is ecstatic of the event’s success and how students have shown their appreciation, Brown too was also pleased he was a part of the job fair.

“It was a well crafted event—very organized,” he said. “I can say that my time was not wasted.”