UNIVERSITY PARK — As Penn State junior Melissa King walked the floor of the career fair Thursday at the Bryce Jordan Center, recruiters called her over into their booths.

The recruiters spotted her name tag, which showed she is majoring in civil engineering. She was on the lookout for an internship to get some experience helping in the design of bridges and buildings.

King, of Ashburn, Va., was one of hundreds of students who came to the Jordan Center for the spring version of the university’s career fair.

The university hosted 344 employers for the event, which was an increase of 11 from last year, the university said in a news release. Thursday was geared for majors in engineering, sciences and information technology, while Wednesday was for business majors and those in communications and liberal arts.

Employers on Thursday included DuPont, Unilever, and General Dynamics. The floor of the Jordan Center was partitioned into booths, and the concourse level was lined with more booths and a few closed-off areas for interviews.

Students, dressed in suits or dress skirts, waited in lines a dozen people deep. Others, who had finished up for the day, changed out of the dress clothes into jeans and T-shirts in the hospitality suites on the concourse level.

Matt Krotowski, a sophomore from Sellersville in Bucks County, came by Thursday afternoon after he was done with his classes. The mechanical engineering major was on the hunt for leads for possible internships in the summer or co-ops in the fall.

As he handed the recruiters his resumes, he thought the recruiters’ eyes zoomed to find his GPA.

Krotowski said he expected to do the legwork of applying online.

“I’m just going to see if they have any availability,” he said after chatting with a representative from DuPont.

Jason Rubenstein, a senior from Robbinsville, N.J., came to the career fair looking for a summer internship or even a job after he graduates in December.

Rubenstein, who is majoring in energy, business and finance, said employers told him they like to groom their interns for possible full-time positions after graduation.

Rubenstein had a one-on-one with Deborah Kelly, a recruiter with Kelly Generator and Equipment Inc. in Owings Mills, Md.

Kelly said her company, with 70 employees, came to the fair looking for an intern in technical sales. Last year, her company hired a Penn State alumnus, and the company has had interns in power generation from Penn College in Williamsport, which is affiliated with Penn State.

“I’ve had great luck at this university,” said Kelly, who met with 15 students Thursday.

Mike Dawson can be reached at 231-4616. Follow him on Twitter @MikeDawsonCDT.