Looking for a job? CareerSource to hold Fall Hiring Event
Those seeking jobs, looking for a career change, or would like to see what the Southwest Florida community has to offer are invited to the CareerSource Southwest Florida Fall Hiring Event at the Suncoast Credit Union Arena at the Florida Southwestern College Lee County campus.
“We’ve partnered with Florida Gulf Coast University for the last three years on very successful spring event, but businesses keep asking us to do a Fall Hiring Event so we listened. Florida SouthWestern State College is partnering with us to make this a premier Fall Hiring Event,” said Executive Director of CareerSource Southwest Florida Joe Paterno in a prepared statement.
The event will take place from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 17, at 13351 FSW Parkway. Those who would like to attend are asked to register at careersourcesouthwestflorida.com/fall-job-fair/ through its Eventbrite link.
“We almost have 1,000 people registered for the event. That is something that is exciting for us. What is happening is there are new people moving to Southwest Florida. People want to change careers, looking to see what Southwest Florida has to offer,” CareerSource Southwest Florida spokesperson Janeth Castrejon said.
Castrejon encourages everyone who wants to attend to register beforehand, so they do not have to do so at the desk the day of the Fall Hiring Event. Attendees can register up to the day of the event, that morning, due to them having the opportunity to meet employers until 3 p.m.
When attending the event, job seekers should come fully prepared, with plenty of resumes, as if they were having an interview.
First impression are important, as well as building relationships and taking business cards, Castrejon said.
“Then the next step is to have the company call you back for an interview,” she said.
The jobs range from manufacturing, health, information technology, construction, local government and education. A complete list of employers can be found at careersourcesouthwestflorida.com /fall-job-fair/.
“Everyone is in great need to fill the job,” Castrejon said.
This is the second year they are having the Fall Hiring Event at the Suncoast Credit Union arena.
“We are completely sold out and we are still getting a lot of calls from companies that still want to be part of it,” she said of the 75 employers, more than 150 area recruiters, that will be present.
Castrejon said with the current Lee County unemployment rate at 3.5 percent, the lowest in a decade, it is a job seekers market due to most people that are able to work, are already working.
“There are more jobs than there are people to fill them. It’s a nation-wide challenge. They have so many positions they have to fill and it is hard to find the talent,” she said, adding that is why so many want to be part of the hiring event. “They have to meet their own goals. It is hard to do it in this kind of economy.”
Castrejon said one of the ways employers can meet their goals is to have a strong engagement in their own workforce.
Another hiring event will take place in April, the Spring Hiring Event, which will be in partnership with Florida Gulf Coast University.
“We try to focus on two major premier hiring events for Southwest Florida to help our clients, employers, and people that need a job,” she said. “These events are so important for us and are extremely successful for the employers and individuals looking for work, are brand new to the area and have no idea what Southwest Florida has to offer.”