The economy may be sluggish, but companies are as eager as ever to find new employees.

On Monday, 124 companies gathered in Hilton Coliseum for the spring College of Business and College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Career Fair.

Kathy Wieland, program coordinator for ISU career services, said she expected about 3,000 students to attend the career fair. Businesses at the fair are looking to hire students for a variety of internships and jobs.

She said employers are looking for students in many areas, including manufacturers, retailers, financial services and logistics.

“Even though people are saying employment is down, companies are here to hire,” Wieland said. The number of companies attending the fair was comparable to last year’s 137 companies, she said.

Many companies are not new to the fair. General Mills has been coming to Hilton for the past 15 to 20 years, said Melissa Jones, representative of General Mills. Depending upon current needs, they look for students to fill either internship or job openings within the company.

They have hired many students from the fair and come back because of the top quality students, Jones said.

Many employers return to the career fair year after year because of good experiences they have had in the past. Eric Mueller of Primerica Financial Services, a marketing firm for CitiGroup, said it was not the first time they had been there.

Mueller said some of Primerica’s current and successful employees were recruited from the Business and LAS Career Fair. They are looking for interns in marketing and financial services they could hire as permanent employees after their internships, he said.

The Des Moines Chamber of Commerce was at the fair for the first time this year. They have signed up to participate before but have previously been unable to attend due to conflicts.

Tricia Garton said the Chamber of Commerce campaign, the Greater Des Moines Partnership, works to keep college graduates in Iowa.

“People say that in Iowa, the two biggest exports are corn and college graduates,” Garton said. They are working to change this and want students to see the benefits of staying in Iowa, she said.

Like many of the companies attending the fair, several students have been through this experience before. Knowing what employers are looking for comes from repeated appearances at the fair.

Kathryn Kallaher, senior in management, has attended this career fair all four years she has been at Iowa State. “In earlier years, I went for the experience. Now I’m looking for full-time employment in management. I would like to find an entry-level career that is promising, where I have the ability to move up in the company,” she said.

Alpa Chheda is a second-year graduate student specializing in operations. This is also the fourth time she has been at the fair. Previously, she was interested in finding an internship and is now looking for a job in operations manufacturing.

Though the career fair is geared towards ISU students in the business and LAS colleges, it attracts students from other universities outside of Iowa State.

Ryan Jennings, a recent graduate of Truman State University in Missouri, was present at the fair.

“I graduated in December and am now traveling to career fairs in different states looking for a full-time job in finance,” Jennings said.

Although the exact numbers of how many students get jobs as a result of the fair is unknown, many gain employment from a first contact at the fair, Wieland said.