ORONO — The Career Center at the University of Maine will hold its second career fair, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 28, in the Wells Conference Center.

Representatives from 76 state and national companies will attend the fair and answer student questions about career choices and opportunities. Students and faculty from all academic disciplines are encouraged to attend.

“I’m very pleased with the response,” says Patty Counihan, director of the Career Center. “We have an excellent representation of organizations, and it’s more than double the size of the fair we had last year.”

Counihan says although over half of the organizations attending have jobs and internships to fill, this is not strictly a job fair.

“It’s really designed for students to learn more about careers and talk face to face with people who represent different careers and get advice and good information,” says Counihan.

Companies and organizations such as National Semiconductor, Up With People, MBNA New England, Raytheon Systems Co., Bangor Area Visiting Nurses and the Bangor Daily News will attend.

John Beacon, dean of enrollment management at UMaine, says the fair shows the importance of a career center to a university community.

“Good employment opportunities are a critical piece of the whole picture as to why students attend college,” says Beacon.

Beacon says the growing desire by major national companies to attend an event like the Jan. 28 fair should show the community that the University of Maine has the caliber of programs and the quality of graduates that companies are seeking to hire and to involve in their internship programs.