A mix of job seekers attended Orange County Community College”™s employment fair in Middletown on April 15. Many hoping the application forms they filled out will elicit a response from the more than 50 employers who participated.
The fair, which opened at 1 p.m., “had a line out the door,” said Thomas Keating, who works for campus security. “It wasn”™t just students. I”™d say it was about half students and half adults that made up the group. There are a lot of people, both the students on the campus and adults out of work, who need a job.”
“I”™d say that most of the people who came through here were seriously looking for employment,” said Barbara Bradley, a human resources recruiter from Catskill Regional Medical Center in Harris. “Others were just curious students who wanted to see what was going on.” Bradley said the hospital has several openings, from food service positions to registered nurses.
Greater Hudson Valley Family Heath Center, which just opened its new facility on Route 32 in the town of Newburgh, received about 100 applications. The center sees approximately 16,000 clients a year.
National chains and large retailers ”“ Home Depot, Macy”™s and Raymour & Flanagan ”“ also had space at the job fair, but company policy prohibits their representatives from talking to the media. Ditto for Fidelis Health care, who participated in the job expo.
Tania Gonzalez, who head talent acquisition for Hudson Valley Federal Credit Union, received 38 applications, “half from students, the other half adults.”
Kim Girardi of Provident Bank, which asks prospective employees to fill out applications online, handed out more than 100 business cards.
Most of the employers participating said they saw a large number of IT professionals who were feeling out the job fair to see if there were any possibilities in that field. Justin Champion of Middletown, a SUNY Orange IT student, said some companies were interested and had IT positions open, but “not many.”
Others came away disappointed. One student walking to her car said she had spent over $8,000 to become a certified practical nurse, only to learn that nobody is interested in someone with a degree but with no job history. “Now I”™m back in school working towards my RN degree. It”™s very tough, especially for younger people who have been in school and have no job history. There are so many people out of work with experience, there isn”™t much juggling room.”
The region”™s unemployment numbers are hovering between 8 percent and 10 percent, but do not account for people who have stopped receiving unemployment benefits and who may have fallen off the Department of Labor”™s radar by no longer looking for work.
