LBCC brings Career Fair to the Valley

WANTED. The ads are on store windows or in the back of newspapers and too often they are even in hiding.

Every college student is on the lookout.

Last week, on April 14, the "Wanted" ads came to LBCC.

The 33rd annual Career Fair filled the Activities Center gym with the roar of many voices. The high heels of well-dressed employees from more than 50 businesses tapped the blue tarp on the floor. The whole gym smelled faintly of the tarp's rubber.

But nervous job seekers didn't seem to notice. They were on the go, searching for the right business, stammering or achieving that perfect introductory speech.

"It's a little confusing," said Patty Evans, a job seeker, "It's like a rat race." She said she should have done more background research before coming. That had been part of the counseling services plan. They had offered sample questions to ask employers, information on the businesses that were there and a list of career planning services.

From looking at the economy it seems that the number of jobs is limited, but many of the businesses were hiring.

Milly Sage, from the Valley West Health Care Center said, "We always have jobs."

T Mobile was looking for retail and customer service representatives.

Edward Jones wanted financial advisers and a branch-office administrator.

At first glance it looks odd that they brought these jobs into a college instead of offering them first to the working adults. It wasn't all because they wanted degrees. None of the jobs from the companies above needed anything but a high school diploma.

Sage knew the answer. She said that she is always offering jobs to the public.

Chrystal Hart, at Edward Jones said, "We just want to reach out to anybody who's ready and willing to go to work."

Carla Raymond, Career Fair coordinator said she advertised hardest at the college but the fair was open to the public because it is the largest one in the valley.  So college students weren't the only ones there. Charity Dillon had the job fair recommended to her by the Department of Human Services as a place to look for a career. 

Kim Hallock from a company called Flakeboard said there was "a lot more people that weren't students...but the mix is good."

Hallock  was pleased with the fair. She said that her company had found some people worth following up.

Wendy Frank with Team Mobile agreed. Her company has been coming to this fair for a long time, "Because," she said, "It's a very consistently busy job fair. We've always been able to hire people."

ATI Wah Chang had a few available positions and found  some people they wanted to follow up with.

The Career fair is to bring businesses and potential employees together. And it was right to have it here because that's what college is about. As Raymond said, "Success means to go to school and get a job. Success is really important at LBCC." 

At-a-glance:
Tips to finding the career that works for you:
1) search the web
2) find out as much as possible about the company you're interested in
3) talk to employees of that company
4) observe the work place
5) ask managers questions that are direct and pointed
6) check out the company's website
7) trust your instincts
--from U.S. news, "7 Ways to find your perfect job"