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1,000 hopefuls line up for Job Journal's career fairFeb 24, 2011 (The Sacramento Bee - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- News from the job fair was promising -- nearly 700 available jobs, a sign that hiring is beginning to pick up in the Sacramento area. More than 1,000 job seekers heeded the call Wednesday at a California Job Journal job fair, but there also were signs showing just how much Sacramento job seekers struggle to find work: The traffic trudging toward the Holiday Inn off of Madison Avenue, cars and drivers' tempers overheating; the long lines of the discouraged and the still-hopeful in pressed suits and dresses, clutching their resumes; the tales of the newly jobless and those who've been out of work for several years. Then, there was the familiar call for job seekers to be ready for their close-ups. "Talk to the employer. Talk about your skills and what you have experience in, so we can match you with your potential job," Karen Dawal of the Job Journal shouted to the waiting crowd. "Make the most of your day." After more than 25 years in auto sales, Gordon Turnbull of Carmichael knows his way around a pitch. "Give me the working vocabulary and the proper tools, and I can do anything," he said. With double-digit unemployment still plaguing the region, employers insist they're now hiring and their list of opportunities was long and varied, from clerical and communications positions to information technology and sales. "We're recruiting for outside sales and we're seeing a lot of people," said Darryl Vider, a district sales coordinator for Aflac Insurance in Roseville. "This is one of the largest (turnouts) I've seen." Verizon Wireless, hiring for its Rancho Cordova call center, wants to fill retention, technical support and customer service positions. It's "a fast-paced environment" at the mobile phone company, said human resources recruiter Veronica Enriquez at her busy booth. "If you're up for that, this is the place. People who have specialties in their fields do well here." Eva McKinnie has stood in lines like Wednesday's since losing her job along with more than 400 others at a Sacramento banking call center last April. Medical insurance is her field, claims and collections, mostly. But she's keeping her options open, even though she says she already knows what to expect. "I've been to so many of these, I know what's going to happen," she said. "They'll thank you, then refer you to online." As the line grew longer, many waited in line for an hour or more snaking through the hotel undergoing major remodeling. Clint Williams of Sacramento mused in line as construction crews worked amid the steel and Sheetrock. "Maybe they need some construction jobs," he said. ------ Call The Bee's Darrell Smith, (916) 321-1040. To see more of The Sacramento Bee, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.sacbee.com/. Copyright (c) 2011, The Sacramento Bee, Calif. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For more information about the content services offered by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services (MCT), visit www.mctinfoservices.com. |