Justin Cook | The Roanoke Times

Kelsey Thomas collects copies of her resume outside a career fair in Commonwealth Ballroom at Squires Student Center at Virginia Tech. Officials at Virginia Tech and Radford say their career fairs are drawing fewer recruiters than in years past.

Justin Cook | The Roanoke Times

Matthew Glazer, a student at Virginia Tech, speaks with Nilesh Dhingra, from Accenture, during a career fair at Virginia Tech. Microsoft and Wachovia are among the companies that have cut back or canceled visits to recruit at Tech.

BLACKSBURG -- September brought daily news of economic collapse.

But the companies still showed up, recruited students, pitched opportunities and offered jobs.

Donna Cassell Ratcliffe, director of career services at Virginia Tech, thought the results were counterintuitive.

"We were watching this," she said. "It was like, 'This isn't making sense to us in terms of what we see coming.' "

Then, in October, she started hearing about recruiters getting laid off.

Microsoft, Wachovia and Circuit City cut back on recruiting or canceled visits to Tech. As unemployment numbers grew, some students began coming into her office with the resumes of their parents, who were joining the ranks of the unemployed.

Judging by turnout at recent career fairs at Tech and other colleges in the region, the student job market is catching up with the economy.

An education career fair hosted by Tech and Radford University in January drew 25 fewer school systems than the previous year's fair. A job fair at Tech last week attracted 37 fewer companies than the 2008 fair.

"The picture is not bright, especially for the immediate future," said Toni McLawhorn, director of career services at Roanoke College. She expects a significant decline in the number of companies at the school's Career Premiere Job Fair Tuesday.

McLawhorn is trying to tap into the school's alumni base to help students network. Networking is always a key piece of advice career professionals give to students. But this year they're also stressing flexibility and creativity, particularly for students in fields hit hardest by the recession.

"Now is not really the time to go into investment banking," said Amy McPherson, an associate director of career services at Tech. "Maybe you're not going to be able to go out and get the dream job that you've envisioned over the last four years.

"That doesn't mean that there are no jobs out there. It just means that maybe you're using your skills in a little different focus, a little different way."

For instance, while many financial jobs disappeared with the banking collapse last year, there is plenty of demand for accountants. The insurance industry is also still recruiting.

Kathy Jordan, director of experiential learning and career development at Radford University, said students coming into her office this year sound desperate.

The economy has forced many of them to mature faster and take a more pragmatic approach to their job searches, she said. But when she and Cassell Ratcliffe attended the education fair in January, they saw long lines in front of certain school districts, such as Henrico and Fairfax counties, and others with openings sat empty.

"We sat on the side and said, 'Will you look at this?' " Jordan said.

In the current environment, it's important for students to not limit themselves to specific school districts, or even major cities, Jordan said. "Your first job might not land you on Wall Street, or Atlanta or Washington, D.C.," she tells students.

But the nation's capital is a prime destination for one aspect of the job market that's actually expanding. The federal stimulus package is expected to create 800,000 new federal government jobs.

Add to that the fact that baby boomer retirements are opening up existing government jobs and the gloomy job outlook looks a little bit brighter, said Edwin Koc, director of strategic and foundation research at the National Association of Colleges and Employers.

"Today's college students have this great advantage in a way because the demographic data are so much in their favor," Koc said. "You figure that these 25- to 29-year-olds have to be replacements for the 65-year-olds. There just isn't enough of them. The problem is we have a seriously contracting economy."

The baby boomer effect is felt more acutely in the federal government because federal employee pensions allow workers to retire. Many private employees were relying on 401(k) accounts that saw their values plummet last year, delaying retirement plans.

Tech senior Lauren Milstead is looking at the federal government as a possible employer.

As she scanned a list of companies at Tech's Connection job fair last week, she said she felt confident about her search. The international studies major from Centerville was also considering working for a nonprofit or teaching abroad. She's fluent in Spanish.

"I think everyone's worried to an extent," she said. "But I think all these companies are here because they're looking to hire. That's encouraging."

More than 100 companies had booths set up for the fair. Eager students, wearing suits, skirts and name tags, hustled down narrow aisles, bumping into one another occasionally as they jockeyed for position in front of their would-be future employers.

Engineering companies sat alongside branches of the federal government and investment firms.

Luna Innovations Inc., fresh from laying off 20 employees in December, was looking for some new blood to work in research and development. The Roanoke-based company develops and manufactures products for health care, telecommunications, energy and defense organizations.

"Obviously, with the economy, the product side has come under a little bit of strain," said Scott Meller, president of the firm's technology development division.

"We have had layoffs in previous months. But our R&D [research and development] business is still growing, continues to grow. That's really why we're here. We employ a lot of interns and new graduates in our work."

There was plenty of optimism from recruiters and job seekers at the fair -- business school students Robbie Sowell and David Imhof said they both had internships lined up but were at the fair to see if they could find any better opportunities. But career officials worry things could get worse before they get better. McLawhorn said she was hopeful the job market would level off this fall, but a real recovery is likely a couple of years away.

Until then, students will need to remain upbeat and be persistent, Cassell Ratcliffe said.

Every "no" they receive during a job search gets them that much closer to the final "yes."

"There is a job out there," she said. "But it is going to take a lot of wherewithal and some ego strength to keep enduring the journey."