ABOUT THIS COLUMN
Looking for a job? Every Sunday, we’ll report on new job opportunities in the community including companies hiring, how to apply, training programs and other economic trends that can affect your job search.
Contact reporter Chelsey Levingston with suggestions at chelsey.levingston@coxinc.com. Also let us know if you land that job.
With a slowly improving job market, efforts focused on putting people back to work and employers eager to find workers with the right skills, job fairs seem to be held every week.
Recent events were held at Middletown’s Towne Mall Galleria, and at local employers such as Kings Island and The Beach waterpark. With an upcoming job fair scheduled for April 2 in Hamilton, we asked organizers why job fairs are worth going to in this digital age.
The quick response: “I think you have to ask the question is it worth networking?” said Shelley Cassady, regional director of career, co-op and internship services at Miami University.
Miami Regionals is hosting its first job fair since the economy turned sour in 2008, Cassady said. The Butler County Job Fair, open to the public and to Miami University students, is 1 to 4 p.m. Wednesday, April 2. It’s being held at the Miami University Hamilton campus, at the Harry T. Wilks Conference Center, 1601 University Blvd.
More than 50 area employers have confirmed participating such as AK Steel Holding Corp., Premier Health, various Butler County government departments, Home Depot and others.
Graduating students, dislocated workers and other job seekers debating plans to attend should keep this in mind: “You never know where you’re going to find your job,” Cassady said.
A job fair is “another place to present yourself.”
“You don’t know who you’re going to meet who knows somebody who knows somebody,” she said. “Networking is still 80 percent of the job market. That’s a big piece of the job market that’s not posted.”
Confident the local job market has turned a corner for the better, Cassady advised potential Butler County Job Fair attendees to come prepared — be dressed professionally and have resumes ready.
For more information about the upcoming job fair and other opportunities, go online to: www.regionals.miamioh.edu/jobs or call 513-785-3113.
About the Author