There are several theories about what keeps employers coming back to campus every semester to meet with students seeking internships and employment.

And they’ll be back starting Monday.

“We get wonderful feedback from employers about how well [younger students] present themselves,” said Larry Hanneman, director of engineering career services. “The career fair has become a major first contact point.”

Company representatives will converge on campus three times next week: 1 to 7 p.m. Monday at Hilton Coliseum for the Business/LAS Spring Career Day; 1 to 7 p.m. Tuesday at Hilton for the Engineering Spring Career Expo; and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursday in the Great Hall of the Memorial Union for the Summer Job Fair.

Kathy Wieland, program coordinator for career services for the Colleges of Business and Liberal Arts and Sciences, said more than 3,000 students who are expected to attend Monday’s event will be getting valuable experience in speaking to potential employers.

“The more you can talk about yourself, the better off you’ll be,” Wieland said.

“You can never articulate [about] yourself to others enough in terms of your skills and your career.”

Wieland said the economy has contributed to declining exhibitor numbers at the spring fair since a high of about 160 employers in 2001.

But participation remains fairly high, with 122 firms scheduled to be represented Monday, she said.

“Fortunately, we’ve had a lot of companies stick with their internship and co-op programs,” she said.

Hanneman said the engineering career fairs have exploded in size in the last decade.

Iowa State is also faring better than some peer schools in retaining those recruiters, he said.

Last year, schools reported at national meetings losing “30 to 60 percent of their visits” for campus interview schedules, Hanneman said.

While Iowa State lost about 20 percent of its interview scheduling for that period, Hanneman said more College of Engineering graduates are finding jobs than in previous years, based on figures that include December 2002 graduates.

There are 121 employers registered for Tuesday’s fair, he said.

“We make sure that employer visits are productive and enjoyable,” Hanneman said.

Hanneman also said the career fair has become an invaluable tool for the 5,000 students expected to attend.

“We place an emphasis on students having practical work experience as an integral part of their education,” he said.

The summer job fair has a different emphasis than the college career fairs but is still important, especially for younger students, said Beverly Madden, director of career planning and placement services.

“The fact that employers call us back again and again and want to come back is a sign to us that it’s working,” she said.

The summer job fair is designed to help first- and second-year students gain transferable job skills, Madden said.