Students ready to make career connections, whether it be for an internship or a job after graduation, can get their resumes and business suits ready for Wednesday’s Business/Liberal Arts and Sciences Fall Career Day 2003.

Students will have the opportunity to pass out resumes to more than 130 companies present at Career Day.

They can also set up interviews with over 40 companies for as early as Thursday.

The career fair will be held from 1 to 7 p.m. in Hilton Coliseum. Interviews will be held throughout the day Thursday.

Heather Johnson Huntley, career development coordinator, said although most of the same companies are returning this year, there are some new companies participating.

“We’ve got some new companies on campus this year that I’m really excited about,” Johnson Huntley said.

Johnson Huntley said she hopes attendance will increase this year, compared to last year’s 4,800 attendees.

Last year’s attendance was down more than 10 percent from the previous year.

“We’ve got companies that are actively looking for interns and full-time employees, so I hope that students are actively there and looking,” Johnson Huntley said.

For students who are not currently searching for an internship or full-time job, Johnson Huntley said they should still attend and check out the different fields being offered, and while they’re there, pick up some freebies.

Students heading to Career Day should have their resumes ready and make plenty of copies to hand out.

“Before going, students should go to www.careers.iastate.edu/fall careerday and check out all the companies they’re interested in,” Johnson Huntley said. “It makes it a lot easier than sitting in the bleachers trying to go over the entire list of companies.”

Other than having a resume, the career services Web site states students should be prepared for Career Day by knowing what they want to accomplish, how they want to introduce themselves and what questions they want to ask employers.

Ryan Halls, junior in finance, will be attending Career Day with expectations of obtaining a summer internship.

“I went on the [Career Day] Web site, put in my major and all the companies that were looking for finance people came up,” Halls said.

From the Web site, Halls was able to obtain information about different companies and narrowed his selections down to the top companies he wants to approach.

Halls said he has attended Career Day since he was a freshman and companies always told him they were looking for students of junior or senior classification.

“This year will be a lot different because I’m a junior, I’ll have a better chance at getting an internship,” Halls said.

“I’ve got my resume ready, sheet of questions to ask and my suit.”

Johnson Huntley said it’s best to go to Career Day with a game plan, some idea of what to say and a name tag.

“Having your name tag on with your major written on it is the best way for employers to approach you and it’s easier for them to talk to you,” Johnson Huntley said.