April 18, 2016 at 1:26 p.m.
Job seekers, employers meet face-to-face at job fair
Job seekers, employers meet face-to-face at job fair
By Kayla Thomason-
Those one-on-one conversations can lead the job seeker to the position he or she has been looking for and help the employer fill a void in his or her workforce.
Forty vendors from a five-county area, all looking for workers to fill open positions in construction, manufacturing, casinos, camps, human services and more, converged on the Rouman Cinema last week for the annual Northern Advantage Job Fair..
"It's a great mix," said Erika Warning, career services coordinator at Nicolet College, noting that organizers were hoping for approximately 200 job seekers.
"I think it's extremely important for our community (to have this event held) as it's a great way to connect employers to job seekers and a great way for industry to connect with each other about what's going on in our area," she added.
First-time job fair attendee Lora Oravec, who is looking for an administrative position, was pleasantly surprised by the variety of employers present.
"There's a lot more employers than I was expecting," she said.
"It's very important, especially in our economy, it seems like there is a lot of unemployment and a lot of people looking for jobs and I love that they are having (the job fair) here in this wide open space where they can have a lot of people, it's a great setup," she added.
Another attendee, Janelle Farmer, said the in-person interaction is a much better option that flipping through a newspaper or starring at a computer screen.
"I haven't gone through all the way, but it looks like there is a decent amount of diversity and different employment opportunities so that is also nice," Farmer said.
Paul Rinka of Advanced Barriers Extrusions (ABX) received about 20 serious inquiries throughout the day.
This was company's first time attending this particular event.
"It comes in waves," Rinka said. "I haven't been to this particular one. I guess I was hoping for a little bit more traffic but it's not bad."
ABX is looking for a lab technician in the QA department.
Staff at their booth were also collecting applications for an entry-level production position and an addition to the maintenance department.
Despite not seeing as much traffic as he had hoped for, Rinka said he thought the organizers did a nice job.
Dawn Nejdlik, chef leader at Hardees, said the restaurant is looking to hire workers for the front, back, morning and afternoon shifts.
"I know that there are a lot of people that are jobless and if they need jobs they should have a place where they can be in one spot, especially for people who don't have vehicles," she said.
The Northern Advantage Job Fair is a collaborative effort between Nicolet College, the Northern Advantage Job Center and the North Central Wisconsin Workforce Development Board.
Kayla Breese may be reached at [email protected].
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