Employers Look To Find Qualified Candidates
Job seekers and employers took part in the 2nd annual job fair held at Penn Central Mall. (photo by Allison McGuire)
by Allison McGuire
Parking spots were at a premium in downtown Oskaloosa last Thursday night, as job seekers connected with the more than fifty employers gathered for the second annual Community Job Fair, held in the Penn Central Mall. The event was sponsored by the Mahaska County Agricultural and Rural Development Division of the Oskaloosa Chamber (MCARD) and IowaWORKS of Southern Iowa.
The two-hour event was still bustling about half an hour before the booths closed down, and tables displaying company products, flanked by banners defining company culture, filled the mall courtyard and extended down the main hallway. Job candidates sat at tables scattered throughout the mall, filling out applications and reviewing job descriptions.
Breonna, an HR professional representing Clow Valve Company, was attending the job fair for the first time. She said these events are valuable networking tools for employers, because someone might have lived in the community their entire life without knowing much about a local company. Breonna indicated the product samples displayed at the Clow booth, saying the job fair allowed a more in-depth and personable introduction to the company than an online job description.
Deann DeGroot, the Director of MCARD, was pleased with the turnout of both employers and job seekers, stating that the number of employers in attendance had remained steady from the fair’s inaugural year, while dropping unemployment numbers may have led to a similar decrease in job candidates. She noted that a number of the attendees were already employed and were looking for new opportunities.
Several William Penn students visiting the booths said that they were “seeing what’s available,” rather than focusing in on a specific company. They had come to the right place, as the employers represented included the health care, manufacturing and engineering, and service industry sectors.
