Career fair draws crowd
CRANBERRY TWP — Hundreds of job seekers swarmed to the Four Points by Sheraton hotel Friday morning for a career fair sponsored by the Pittsburgh North Regional Chamber of Commerce.
Nearly 100 companies set up booths in the ballroom early in the morning as job seekers began pouring in to the room.
One of those vendors was Cpl. Brian Carpenter with the Pennsylvania State Police, whose booth was almost constantly packed with prospective employees.
Carpenter said most people are surprised to see the state police at career fairs, although he added events like the one Friday are crucial to recruiting new troopers to the ranks.
“A lot of the time people feel like they need to come to us for jobs,” he said. “Something like this allows us to go to them.”
The state trooper said the event is about networking. He might not get a tremendous number of new recruits at the event, but his conversations with people might plant seeds that could be useful later.
Jim Boltz, the executive director of the chamber, smiled Friday as he talked about the success of the fair.
The chamber solicited a record number of businesses to come, and he hoped to see a record number of job seekers as well.
“A lot of our member businesses are in need of good employees, and it’s our obligation to help them get the word out,” Boltz said. “And we owe it to the community for people looking for career opportunities to hook them up with employers.”
Megan Julius, the marketing director for the chamber, said more than 100 job-seekers showed up in the first hour.
She said chamber officials expected about 500 people to attend.
“It’s a great way for us to help our member businesses grow their economic footprint in our area,” she said.
Kelly Frey came from Pittsburgh to the career fair, adding that she was looking for a position in a communications company after being recently laid off.
She said the main reason for coming was the number of employers she knew would be there.
“The more the merrier,” she said. “It’s great to get out and talk to people.”
Job seeker Noah Krassenstein of Bradford Woods said much of the same, adding that an in-person career fair is a much better networking opportunity than sitting in front of a computer and applying to dozens of positions.
“It makes sense to have face-to-face interactions,” he said. “It’s better than sitting at a computer clicking a button.”
Nicola Jones, a talent acquisition specialist for Lutheran Senior Life in Mars, said she always goes to career fairs when she has a chance.
“We always look for candidates at chamber events,” she said. “We’re always looking for great local candidates.”
