M.E. Rinker Sr. School of Building Construction marks 30th career fair

February 18, 2013

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The University of Florida M.E. Rinker Sr. School of Building Construction will celebrate its 30th career fair at the Rinker School of Building Construction Spring Career Fair from 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Tuesday at the O’Connell Center.

“The Rinker School is excited to celebrate 30 consecutive successful career fairs,” said Robert Ries, director of the Rinker School of Building Construction. “The Rinker School has a wonderful relationship with the construction industry and our alumni, which has provided employment opportunities for students. The future outlook for the profession is positive, given the forecast in employment growth in construction management by the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the recent survey by the National Association of Colleges and Employers indicating that the construction management bachelor’s degree is one of the top 10 in starting salary.”

In the past 15 years, the Building Construction Career Fair has hosted more than 3,000 companies with the potential to hire the more than 10,500 students who have attended the last 30 career fairs. Based on the ratio of building construction graduates to job placement in the field, the school’s annual spring and fall career fairs are the top resource to obtain employment and internships at both the undergraduate and graduate level.

“The Rinker School demonstrates continued success through the career fair networking events,” said Forrest Cothron, building construction senior. “The Rinker School continues to be the best kept secret on the UF campus and provides multiple job opportunities to their students.”

Companies attending the career fair range from general contractors, construction management firms, design-build firms, heavy civil, developers and residential companies.

“The Rinker School has provided a target rich venue to connect its exceptional graduates with companies that require the best talent,” said John Sofarelli, building construction alumnus and president of J. Raymond Construction in Orlando. “Our firm has attended the career fair since its inception knowing that we will be able to recruit some top-notch Rinker students.”

For more information, please visit www.bcn.ufl.edu or contact building construction’s job placement coordinator Kim Stanley at 352-273-1187 or kimms@ufl.edu.