MANKATO — You don’t get a job at a job fair. You get a look at the employer, and they get a look at you. Sort of like speed dating for the world of employment.

It’s an environment that’s well suited to the service-industry jobs on display Thursday at Rasmussen College. For a salesperson or a call-center employee, the ability to build a rapport in just a few seconds can be more important than technical skills.

And it’s the sort of place someone like Fardousa Jama shines.

The engaging young woman, who plans to graduate from Rasmussen next spring with a degree in law enforcement, walks from booth to booth and chats up total strangers.

“You have to stand out,” Jama said. “You don’t want to be the average Joe.”

She was talking to the Minnesota Department of Corrections so that when she graduates in nine months they will already know who she is.

A few tables away, Molly Harvey and Dawn Bradley of the insurance company Aflac (the one with the spokesduck) are signing up prospective employees for informational interviews.

“It’s 100 percent relationship building,” Harvey said. (Harvey is a former employee of The Land, a sister publication of The Free Press.)

While an Aflac salesperson has to know about what they’re selling, most people can be taught technical details. They can’t all be taught how to build a client’s trust or represent the company professionally.

Of the 33 or so companies and institutions that had booths at the job fair, there appeared to be no manufacturers. This may be partly because Rasmussen’s three main programs are health, law enforcement and business — so the college forges stronger bonds with those employers.

But Campus Director John Pappas said the fair is open to all employers.

“It’s not just for our students, but for the community,” he said.

It’s difficult to draw good conclusions about a local economy from a single job fair. But organizers say more employers were offering actual jobs — not just get-to-know-you opportunities — compared to a February event.

One of those companies is Verizon Wireless, which is expanding its call center in Mankato, said Pam Michelson, a human resources manager with the company.

Mankato web-based company buyfun.com, primarily a Halloween costumer retailer, is ramping up from 60 jobs to 300 in the approaching busy season. They’re hiring for shipping, warehouse and customer service position.

Michelson said she’s interested in graduates from Rasmussen, but not all are interested in entry-level jobs.

Take John Kelly, who is seeking a business degree from the college. He said he’s not interested in jobs he could have gotten without a degree.

Fellow business student Lindsey Davis said it’s difficult to get those jobs without experience.

“We’re wondering what we can do,” she said.

“You have to be creative,” Jama chimes in, and remind employers about other experience such as volunteering.

“It’s a dog-eat-dog world.”