The economic downturn caused lay offs and hiring cuts, but that didn’t keep companies or students from attending the Career Expo on Wednesday at the Maddox Field House. Sara Crow, Career Services assistant director of communications, said 1,977 students attended the expo. Only 1,727 students attended the fall 2008 expo, and 1,407 students attended the spring 2009 expo. Around 188 companies came to the expo to mingle with students.”This was one of our biggest ever [in terms of student participation],” Crow said. “The employers talked about great student turnout.”Crow said students are more focused about getting jobs, which she attributes to current difficulties in the job market as well as the higher caliber of students accepted to the University. Crow said the reasons for the increase in student participation are the recession and the importance of networking.Laura Daray, kinesiology graduate student, said looking for opportunities at the expo was harder for her than for business and engineering students. But she said the expo was beneficial because she was able to talk to different companies face-to-face and dig for positions involving her major within those companies.”I had to dig by asking if they had a corporate wellness program for their employees,” Daray said. “A lot [of companies] tried to give me direction within their company. If I can mesh my field with something different and fun, then I’ll do it.”Daray sought out companies like Chevron Corp., the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory and the FBI.This fall’s expo had less company participation than the Career Expo last fall, which hosted 220 companies. Crow said Career Services invited around 7,000 companies to participate in the expo. Crow said the decrease in companies is because of the current economic state.Douglas Weimer, economics instructor, said companies trim certain departments and cut back on expenditures like travel when there is a recession.”During a downturn, companies tend not to hire as much, so they aren’t recruiting,” Weimer said. “[The decision of some companies to not participate in the expo] is driven by not needing to do as much hiring and a cost control measure.”Justin Bayer, Chevron production engineer and ’06 University alumnus, said his company has attended the expo for more than 10 years. He said Chevron is hiring.”It’s a great turnout,” Bayer said. “People feel there will be a tight job market, so they’re trying to get their face out more.”Bayer said although he did not attend the Career Expos when he was enrolled at the University, he found his job through Career Services’ Careers2Geaux, which was then known as Tiger Tracks.Crow said students whose majors were not well represented at the expo or who want to explore the job market more in-depth can take the job market into their own hands with the employee directory in the Careers2Geaux service.Justin Alfred, industrial engineering senior, said he attended the expo to get an internship for the summer. Alfred said as an engineering major, he is not worried about getting an internship.Jessica Johnson, college recruiting coordinator for J. C. Penney and Co., said the University is a school they like to target. Johnson said even though J. C. Penney is a retail company, they are a stable business with more job openings this year than last year.Cherie Hardouin, J. C. Penney store manager and 1997 LSU alumna, said she got her start with the company through the different career fairs on campus when she was enrolled.Hardouin said even though J. C. Penney is a retailer, they get job applicants from a variety of majors like fashion merchandising, marketing, mass communication and sociology.”Students are looking to see what opportunities we have to offer,” Hardouin said. “They’re looking outside the box.”—-Contact Mary Walker Baus at [email protected]