Students, graduates swarm BYU job fair

PROVO — The IRS is hiring. (The government needs money.)

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. is hiring. (Someone needs to liquidate failed banks during the recession.)

BYU Television is not hiring, but still shooting film. (Recession or no, the shows must go on.)

An estimated 6,000 college students and 30-somethings — and 40-, 50- and even 60-somethings — donned suits or skirts and lugged resumes to Brigham Young University on Wednesday for the annual winter career fair.

Crowded shoulder to book bag in a maze of booths in the Wilkinson Student Center ballroom, they literally stepped on each other's toes as they hunted down jobs and internships in a recession.

They found 106 businesses and government agencies, some bursting with jobs, others not. Many had limited openings or no positions available at all but still came with an eye toward the future.

"The average revenue agent brings in 20 times their salary," said Tom Collins, an IRS team manager in Salt Lake City. "It's a no-brainer. When the government's out of money, the IRS is the only agency that brings it in. We're hiring nationwide."

Collins is part of a team of 20 agents who work with large and midsize businesses. The IRS is looking to add five new positions to the team.

"That's a 25 percent increase," he said. "That's a huge hire."

Collins and other employers at the career fair said attractive applicants are abundant in a tightening job market.

Orem-based Omniture is an example of slowing job growth. For several years Omniture was one of the nation's fastest-growing companies, leaping from 186 employees in 2006 to more than 2,000, company recruiting manager Catherine Howard said. On Wednesday, Howard said the Orem-based Web analytics company has only 30 openings right now.

"We're not mass hiring any more," she said. "We haven't had any layoffs. We are replacing people. We are not in a hiring freeze. But we are being very cautious about hiring. The (recession) has changed the dynamic of our company. It's a great time for Omniture to solidify the greatest foundation we possibly can."

BYU senior Derrick Bowen left a resume with Omniture, then later won an iPod Shuffle from the company in a raffle. Bowen would trade that for an internship, but he's not too stressed. He already has begun work on a master's degree in information systems, so he won't hit the job market this year.

The 24-year-old from Grand Junction, Colo., said summer internship slots are filling up faster than usual.

"You pretty much take the first offer," Bowen said. "I'm glad I have another year. It feels like things have plateaued at the bottom."