Almost 3,000 students crowded into the McCaul Street Exam Centre for the fourth annual You’re Next Career Fair last week to meet with 81 potential employers ranging from A Thinking Ape to Xtreme Labs.

That number was sixty percent higher than last year’s turnout, said Denizcan Karadadas (IndE 1T3), associate director of the career fair. Though most attendees were engineering students (the event is organized by the You’re Next Career Network, a U of T Engineering Society initiative), students from other disciplines such as business administration, geology and computer science also showed up to see what companies such as Hatch, Goodyear, Microsoft, Syncrude and CanadaHelps had to offer.

Besides the career fair, You’re Next Career Network also hosts a start-up career expo, held in October, where students can meet with representatives of start-up companies.It also organizes Launchpad, a year-long series of events to help students build their professional skills such as networking and resume writing. “We help them get to know what’s out there, and get them ready for life after school,” said Karadadas.

Yi Wei Ang (IndE 1T3), president of You’re Next Career Network, said U of T Engineering’s Engineering Career Services staff deserved thanks for helping the organization connect to potential employers, and also for organizing several events leading up to the fair, including resume and interview workshops and mock interviews.

Karadadas said he was very pleased with the fair this year. “I talked to a lot of employers, and they’re all very happy about the way we organized things. Everything’s been going really well so far, and all the feedback I got was along the lines of how much more professional this looks this year.” The students were also happy with the fair, and the chance to meet face to face with potential employers.

He looked at the steady stream of students coming through the exam centre’s doors and smiled. “We’ve come a long way since 2010 when we began with only 18 employers. We might have to move to a bigger venue next year, but that’s a good problem to have.”