The Career Fair at American River College was incredibly busy Thursday, as 31 different businesses packed a room in the student center and offered information about jobs and career options for places like the California Highway Patrol, Devry University, and Farmer’s Insurance.

Kolleen Ostgard, interim president of student services said she saw “anywhere from 500 to 600 students” pass through the room, picking up pamphlets and talking to employers.

Stephanie Hall, a child development major, spent an hour and a half inside. She is a first semester student at ARC, and thought the event was very helpful.

“I’ve never been to a career fair before, and I liked it. It’s nice to get to talk to these people face to face instead of, ‘Fill out this application and wait for us to call you,’” said Hall. “And I actually got to fill out two applications for things they’re hiring for now. A lot (of) what I heard was that they’ll work with you until you get the degree, and then you can get the higher paying jobs … So it was very useful.”

About half of the booths also offered information about opportunities for students while they went to school, like Sugar Bowl, the ski/snowboard resort, and University Enterprises, Inc., an organization with assistant positions for students throughout California. But the main focus was looking towards the future.

Ostgard said of the event, “We want to introduce ARC students to the opportunities that exist out in the working world, and to be familiar with what employers are looking for when they hire people. It’s also a great networking opportunity, giving students a chance to talk to people about what they’re studying, what they want to do when they’re through with school, what the expectations are of our employers, and really get a sense of what career path is right for them.”

Dante Loggins, a biomedical engineering major, was disappointed that the FBI could not attend as planned, due to the government shutdown.

“I was really looking forward to talking with them and finding out more about what they do, although I doubt they would have told me everything”, said Loggins. He still found the event just as useful as Hall did, adding, “CalTrans has a lot of career options, and they’re all non customer service, which is important to me.”

The career center at ARC also holds workshops on résumé development and interviews.