Employment
Job fair unites Wilma's battered employers and workers who have lost jobs
by
By Bill Hirschman
Staff Writer
November 22, 2005
 |
Beatriz Hartman of Consolidated Credit Counseling Services talks to prospective clients about how to buy what they need without incurring credit card debt. Photo/Josh Ritchie (Sun Sentinel).
|
|
Hurricane-battered employers and out-of-work job applicants lined opposite sides
of tables like barterers at an old-fashioned bazaar Monday, with the sellers and
buyers equally hungry to make a deal.
Jeffery Thompson had come to the Working After Wilma job fair at the Pompano Beach
Civic Center trying to hook up with a business that needed to hire him as much as
he needed a new job.
The smiling young man with a scorpion tattoo crawling up his arm said job opportunities
in his Fort Lauderdale neighborhood were scarce because "the power was out so long
and a lot of businesses did not open back up."
But after an hour of threading through booths, he left with prospects as a security
guard.
Nearly 60 employers and about 600 potential employees scouted each other during
the fair pieced together in six days by WorkForce One. The publicly funded, nonprofit
agency develops the Broward County job market year-round and saw itself as a logical
go-between after Wilma struck.
"There's a sense of urgency because of the storm," said Kelly Allen, marketing manager
for the agency.
The hurricane delayed many Broward County companies in hiring holiday staff they
needed immediately, hampered filling existing vacancies and created jobs related
to recovering from the disaster. The storm shut down scores of businesses, forcing
their employees to seek another paycheck.
Some employers' backlog of vacancies reflected the fast-growing local economy or
the needs of rapidly expanding business such as the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel &
Casino, where recruiter Gail Liput sought to fill 93 positions by next week.
But others discovered new needs tied to storm recovery, said Danielle Del Valle.
Her Segue Staffing sought mechanics to repair Bobcats and forklifts that burned
out in debris removal.
That urgency was reflected by friendly but aggressive pitches from recruiters such
as Errol Cunningham of insurance company AIG American General, hawking their company
like carnival barkers.
"We're seeking folks who have licenses to market life insurance and annuities. You
can make $35,000 to $100,000," he told passers-by.
Firms covered their tables with come-ons to snare passers-by: blue flip-flop sandals
from Bed Bath & Beyond seeking holiday sales help, mugs from the Broward Center
for the Performing Arts seeking maintenance workers and tension-relieving squeeze
toys from Enterprise Rent-A-Car shaped like sedans.
Applicants were just as diverse. The mostly middle-aged crowd also included seniors
and applicants barely out of their teens. Some spoke English, others Spanish or
Creole. A few hopefuls arrived in off-the-rack suits, a few others in fading T-shirts.
Many said they were frustrated in recent job searches.
"I still can't get a hold of people" who took his resumes before the storm "or their
computers are down," said Peter Yalanis in the resonant voice he uses as an advertising
voice-over artist.
He's not picky. Yalanis recently lost his job as admissions officer for the downsizing
Connecticut School of Broadcasting, but his resume includes sales work, even stand-up
comedy.
"What's important to me is a lot of satisfaction and a good feeling. Pay is important,
but it's not necessarily the most important thing."
Many applicants left Monday with renewed optimism. Jim Harrison said he lost his
job as a facilities manager after the storm, but the Seminole Hard Rock staff was
looking for someone with precisely his experience.
Even if the job didn't materialize, the Pembroke Pines resident was encouraged:
"Normally, you can spend half a day applying to just one employment agency. I've
talked to five or six here today."
Employers were equally pleased. Del Valle came away with so many solid applicants
that she thought the six hours she invested were worthwhile.
"This is definitely one of the best job fairs I've been to in the past four years."
