Undaunted by the rain and the pressure of upcoming midterms, throngs of students attended the Office of Career Services Job and Internship Fair on Friday, hoping to connect with potential employers.

This year, OCS decided to separate the job and internship fair from the On-Campus Interview Program fair, which took place in September, in order to provide for the needs of students not involved in the OCI program.

“The division of OCI and non-OCI this year helped to give deserved attention to other employers,” said Deborah A. Carroll, Director of the OCS On-Campus Interview & Employer Relations Office. “It’s a pilot year but it seems to be going really well.”

Kevin J. Chin ’13, who attended both the OCI fair and Friday’s fair, said that last week’s event was “more personal.”

“It’s nice to have more breathing room,” he said.

Both attendees and organizers noted the diverse range of employers present at the fair, from the Federal Bureau of Investigation to advertising firm Digitas and biotech firm AmniSure International.

“There’s a broader scope of employers than I had anticipated,” said fair attendee Ramon L. Perez, a student at the Harvard Extension School.  “I’ve spoken to a lot of really interesting people.”

Carroll noted that she was particularly excited to have Levi Strauss for the first time, in addition to other fashion industry representatives, including Gilt Groupe.

Fair attendee Emelyn A. Rude ’12 said that seniors are feeling pressure to find a job before graduation, and that the fair format—while helpful—can present some difficulties.

“It’s a hard environment to connect in,” Rude said.

Alison Gruber, representing sales and marketing consulting firm ZS Associates, said that while the event started slowly, it later picked up.

“There has been a very good turnout,” she said. “I’m surprised by how busy it’s been, especially with the rain.”

Gruber added that she was also surprised by the range of ages represented by event attendees, saying she had spoken to freshmen, graduate students, and people as old as her grandfather.

“Students were engaged and ready and interested,” Carroll said. “It’s a tough economy. Harvard students are resilient.”

—Staff writer Aisling H. Crane can be reached at acrane@college.harvard.edu.

This article has been revised to reflect the following corrections:

CORRECTION: OCTOBER 18, 2011

The Oct. 17 article "OCS Hosts Job, Internship Fair" incorrectly identified ZS Associates as a sales and marketing firm. In fact, it is a sales and marketing consulting firm.