Oct. 31, 1997 Contact Gaye Vandermyn (541) 346-3133 EUGENE--The University of Oregon is riding the crest of the latest recruiting trend with a record number of graduate schools and corporate recruiters coming to the Nov. 5 Graduate School and Career Fair in the Erb Memorial Union Ballroom. "At least 90 recruiters--almost half graduate schools--have reserved display space and many have asked us to schedule job or placement interviews with students while they are here," says Larry Smith, director of the UO Career Center, which sponsors the fair. The fair is open between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m., Wednesday, Nov. 5. This year's theme for the fair, "Your future is in your hands," features a large palmistry hand. Students deposit Tarot cards in a marked box in the EMU Ballroom for door prize drawings at the fair. The record numbers of recruiters--more than a 150 percent increase--is in line with national trends reported this fall in The New York Times, Smith confirmed. With the expansion in business activity this year, corporate recruiters are flocking to career fairs, seeking to find well-educated and technology-savvy employees who can help them keep a competitive edge. Similarly, graduate schools, entering a more competitive higher education market, also are recruiting more aggressively. Both industry and graduate schools are finding the recruits they need more easily and less expensively through career fairs in this heated business climate than through more traditional advertising and recruiting avenues. Smith says career fairs also have grown in popularity with UO students since the first was held more than 20 years ago. Until the last five years, career fairs were annual events attended by a few hundred students. This year, the Career Center has scheduled three fairs and the first one on Nov. 5 is expected to attract almost 1,000 students. The Nov. 5 fair focuses on graduate school opportunities and job openings suitable for summer, fall and winter term graduates. UO students in their junior year should be looking over the graduate schools who come to the Nov. 5 fair, and recent graduates or graduating seniors will want to look over the 44 firms and government agencies, he added. Smith said graduate schools find the UO fairs good recruiting grounds because one in five UO graduates go on to graduate school immediately after earning their bachelor's degree. Within the next two years, another 10 to 15 percent also go on to continue their education in some way, he noted. The winter term fair, the Career and Internship Fair, is a two-day event scheduled for Jan. 21-22, 1998, and the spring event on April 15 is the Summer Job and Career Fair. -30- #P-1062/Local,PDX,OrBUS