More than 200 employers and 5,000 students flocked to Barton Hall Tuesday and Wednesday for the annual Cornell Career Fair. Compared to 2009, attendance this year increased noticeably, which may signal a rise in job market confidence.

Director of Career Services Rebecca Sparrow MILR ’86, was satisfied with the turnout and noted that employment outlook for recent graduates is looking brighter.

“Employers were very impressed with our students, and that’s something you always want to see,” Sparrow said. “We are seeing a return to the ‘bling’ and giveaways again, [which] is one sign that the economy is a little bit stronger than the last couple of years.”

On Sept. 13, the Wall Street Journal published a survey that ranked Cornell as the top 14th “school whose graduates were the top-rated by recruiters.” Cornell was the only Ivy League School ranked in the top 25.

Sparrow cited the increase in student preparation, the diversity of the student body and the number of majors offered as important contributors to this ranking.

“We had record attendance for the [career fair] info session on Monday night — almost double the normal amount of people,” Sparrow said. “In addition, Cornell is much broader than most Ivies because there is a wider range of majors. The larger student body puts us on par with some of the higher ranked state schools.”

Applied Economics and Management major Menachem Polishuk ’11 recommended that students arrive early for these events — Tuesday’s general career fair and Wednesday’s technical and engineering fair — because individual time with recruiters becomes more difficult as the day progresses.

“When [the fair] just opened, closer to 10 o’clock, I got a lot of one-on-ones,” Polishunk said. “About 30 minutes later, there were really long lines. But, by that time, I’d already spoken to most employers [I wanted to speak to].”

Regina Gonzalez, diversity campus recruiter at UBS Investment Bank, agreed that although both days were extremely busy, she was able to achieve her recruitment goals.

“We had students coming in from 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., so we had a full booth the entire time,” Gonzalez said. “It was non-stop and we met some great candidates.”

Gonzalez also emphasized that individual exposure is limited during these events and students should attend sessions with individual employers.

“I would definitely recommend attending employer-specific events in the future, because career fairs are very difficult,” Gonzalez said. “There are so many students and you can only spend so much time with each, so we like to learn more about our candidates before making [interview] decisions.”