Despite an economic recession, people are looking for jobs and employers are looking to hire.

Students and employers gathered at the Carroll Knicely Conference Center Wednesday for the 2009 Career Services Job Fair.

More students attended this job fair than the one in the fall, but there were about 40 more employers at the fall event said Becky Bennett, director of the center.

Some of the employers at the event included Nestlé, Northwestern Mutual Financial Network, Fruit of the Loom, and The Walt Disney Company.

Hopkinsville sophomore Will Hamilton said he went to the job fair to see which jobs are available.

Vietnam junior Cong Nguyen said he went to the fair to see what employers are looking for and to show them his potential.

Bennett said the job fair helps students and employers meet employment goals.

“This always pays off for the students who take it seriously,” she said. “Every time we have a job fair, we always hear about students finding jobs or employers hiring students that they met at the job fair.”

Some employers say the economy has made them more selective about hirings, said Mike Hammond, a group recruiting manager with Enterprise Rent-A-Car.

“Company’s are reevaluating their staffing ratio,” Hammond said. “There are still jobs available for talented people, though.”

Bennett said that employers who have jobs to fill will wait to hire until the market is steady.

One of the main benefits of the job fair is that students can network with employers, Hammond said.

He said that networking is 80 percent of finding a job.

Andrea Brown, an agent recruiter with Kentucky Farm Bureau Insurance Companies, said that the ability to network is a skill that a lot of employers look for.

Students also went to the job fair to find internships.

Hamilton said that he has a job, but went to the job fair to find an internship in his field.

Hammond said most employers are looking for people who have experience, such as internships.

But Bennett said internships are sometimes the first jobs that businesses cut back on.

She said the center is working with employers to make sure internships are still available to students.

Bennett said the job fair has had a lot of success in the past. She said the center follows up with students and employers after the event, and many students have said that the fair helped them get a job.

“It’s also helpful because students can come here and find out how to market themselves better to employers and find out what they’re looking for,” she said.