East Mississippi Community College students and others in the area looking for work had an opportunity to get their name out and make some connections Tuesday.
The annual EMCC job fair drew more than 60 businesses, government agencies and other potential employers, as well as a large number of job seekers. Among the employers represented were PACCAR, Yokohama, OCH, Baptist Healthcare Systems Columbus and area police departments. The job fair was held on the EMCC Golden Triangle campus.
“It’s been a great turnout,” said EMCC Associate Dean of Instruction Melanie Sanders. “We have a lot of vendors who have participated with us in the past. We’ve got a lot of new faces, and we had a lot of participants that have already come through this morning.”
Sanders also explained the importance of the job fair, saying it was important for EMCC students and members of the community to have the opportunity to find gainful employment.
“We want to take that opportunity to introduce them to local industry, as well as provide a service to the community to allow them to come in and bring everyone together, the job seekers, as well as the employers that are in our area,” Sanders said.
Sharon Gordon, a sophomore criminal justice major from Columbus said she was planning to give her resume to potential employers both in her field and outside of it. She also said she appreciated having a plethora of employers in one place.
“It’s kind of hard to get to some of the companies that are out here, so I’m glad that Yokohama and PACCAR and all of them are here,” Gordon said. Mike Bogue, vice president of APAC-Mississippi
Inc., said his firm and two other construction companies, Phillips Contracting and Burns Dirt had chosen to attend the job fair as a group.
“We’re here to recruit and educate men and women who want to enter our field of work, answering questions, telling them about openings we have and just encouraging them to refer to that dialogue with us later if they have any interest in any type of road, bridge, highway or sitework construction,“ Bogue said.
Bogue said many of those attending the job fair had left resumes and expressed interest in working in construction.
“We want to make sure that they will have the skills and the knowledge to be successful when they first move into the industry or into retraining,” Sanders said.