Big crowd attends job fair
By Barbara Arntsen
Published in News on April 1, 2005 1:45 PM
More than 500 people poured through the doors of the National Guard Armory Thursday morning hoping to find work.
The job applicants poured around the booths and tables of the 28 vendors set up at the seventh annual "March-to-Work Job Fair."
Sponsored by the Work First Development Council, Wayne County Department of Social Services, the Wayne Uplift Resource Association and WAGES, the three-hour job fair gives people an opportunity to see the kinds of jobs available in the area.
And, it gives employers the chance to gauge the skills of potential employees.
Henry Andrews, a trainer with the Social Services Strive program, said it was part of the job readiness portion of the program for the students to find out what employers had to offer.
Andrews explained that Strive was an employee training program that stresses attitudinal adjustments in the students to help them find work.
"It's changing negative outlooks to positive attitudes," he said. "We teach them about making good impressions."
Students must follow the professional dress code and adhere to a strict attendance policy.
Andrews said that the students from the current Strive class were circulating through the room at the Armory, filling out applications.
Vendors included representatives from the Air Force, local hotels, retail stores, fast food restaurants, beauty salons, nursing homes, and manufacturing plants.
William Marrow said he was looking for something in the health care field, and thought the job fair was helpful.
Michael Territo and Jonathan Smith, residents at Re-Nu Life in Goldsboro, said they were excited to have the chance to look for jobs.
"I'm looking for any kind of job," Territo said.
ReNu Life specializes in rehabilitation and treatment programs for adults suffering from traumatic brain injury.
"I've got a few applications," said Smith. "And one man said that when I call about a job, refer to him."
Smith is originally from Angier, but now lives at ReNu Life in Goldsboro after suffering a head injury in an automobile accident. He said he was excited about the job fair.
"I'm looking for a maintenance job," he said. "Maybe buffing floors."