The UCSB Dept. of Communication is hosting its third annual Career Day this Saturday to offer free job advice to all students.

The event will be held from 12:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. in Phelps Hall and will feature a series of career panels led by volunteer graduates including Executive Vice President of Worldwide Marketing for CBS Films Debbie Miller and Steven Kerns, vice president of San Francisco public relations firm Fleischman-Hillard. The fair is open to students of all majors and grade levels.

According to 2005 UCSB alumna Laura Roenick, the event is an opportunity for students to network and learn more about their potential career fields.

“Career Day was an event I always hoped to experience as a collegiate, as there are few things more effective than meeting people that have the job you aspire to obtain and hearing their story firsthand,” Roenick said in an e-mail.

The communication department created Career Day in celebration of the major’s twenty-fifth anniversary three years ago.

Communication professor Anna Laura Jansma said faculty decided to continue hosting the event after the inaugural Career Day received positive feedback from students.

“It was such a success bringing together the students and alumni that we decided to do it annually,” Jansma said.

The fair is divided into two hour-long sessions consisting of five to six panels each. Panelists will discuss their post-graduate experiences and answer questions from attendees.

Jansma said panels also serve to connect students with potential employers.

“It has happened where students have gotten jobs from attending a panel,” Jansma said.

The department created the 10-member Communication Alumni Council to help organize the event. UCSB alumna and council member Kibibi Springs said the alumni also benefit from the fair.

“It’s great to connect with alumni and see what we’ve done and where we’ve gone since being a Gaucho,” Springs said. “We’re all happy to give guidance because at the end of the day, we’ll all be UCSB alumni.”