Sharon Wallace is a human resources representative at Bank of Hawaii. She’s only a few months into the job that she initially discovered through Chaminade’s Job Fair this past fall.

Wallace could be the poster child for the success of students who attend the career fairs on campus. And on March 7, she returned to the Chaminade campus as a testament to the potential of being prepared and is now a recruiter for Bank of Hawaii.

“It’s always nice to see friendly faces, and just you know cause Chaminade is a small enough school where everyone is like family,” Wallace said about being back at CUH.

This year, BOH was one of 44 vendors that attended Chaminade’s Career Fair.

Career Services’ annual Career Fair helps students who attend the event to talk with recruiters, look them in the eye, shake hands and introduce themselves, according to Angela Coloretti, director of Career Services at Chaminade. Students are asked to dress professionally and bring their résumé with them.

“Job fairs are very traditional, it’s a traditional way of recruiting, and I think they’re here to stay,” Coloretti said.

Of the 44 vendors that attended this year, Altres, Disney College, Make-A-Wish foundation, Vivint, Icicle Seafoods and Hawaiian Cool Water were first time attendees, to name a few.

Hawaiian Cool Water came to meet its hiring needs for sales and marketing and servicing technicians.

CUH’s own Hogan Entrepreneur Program was there promoting its business plan for Mo’ Betta Soda. Graduate student Trey Roy handed out samples of lemongrass, basil, cucumber soda and blueberry ginger soda to attendees. The Hogan students gave away homemade soda as part of their entrepreneur program.

Two students that attended the Career Fair, senior Accounting majors Karina Coleman and Kelia Stahlam, are graduating in May and are starting to look for jobs. Although they both came prepared to the Career Fair, they wished there was more of a variety in vendors. Most of the vendors were looking for sales, and there were not as many accounting-related firms.

This year Career Services set up something different for students: a photobooth. Students that showed up in professional business attire were asked by Career Services staff to take a picture to use as a professional headshot.

Coloretti felt it was beneficial for students who came prepared to get their picture taken for their online profiles for professional networking sites like LinkedIn and Symplicity. Although their profiles may be private, agencies can still access their photo. More than 40 students took a headshot photo, according to Coloretti.

The Career Fair also asked students to fill out a survey that would inform them how attendees felt the fair went and if students were prepared or not. The results showed that 71 percent of students felt they were mostly prepared for the Career Fair, 24 percent brought their resume, 52 percent said they were ready to talk to recruiters and 20 percent said they were not prepared at all.

Coloretti is planning to strategize differently for next year. She hopes to organize an opportunities fair in the fall, instead of another job fair, to specialize in helping students look for internships and summer research programs.

“In Hawaii we’re so name-face connection oriented,” Coloretti said. “We, as Hawaii employers, it’s important for us to see who we’re employing and know them, and know who they know, and there’s a lot of connection. And so having that is to the student’s advantage, because the student can make the one on one connection, that’s one thing you can’t replace.”