By WESLIE STRATTON
Moapa Valley Progress
Mesquite Regional Business hosted a Job Fair on Monday, Sept. 21 located at the Grand Ballroom in the Casablanca Resort in Mesquite. Designed to provide area job seekers with the opportunity to connect with potential employers, many businesses participated by visiting with locals and handing out job applications.
According to Brandy Carnahan with Mesquite Regional Business there were more employers at this job fair than at previous ones.
“And there are more people sitting down and filling out applications than last year,” she said.
Carnahan said that participants seemed to be better prepared for this job fair. In the weeks leadnig up to the Job Fair, MRB had partnered with College of Southern Nevada in offering a class for job seekers on how to present themselves and their qualifications to hiring companies. Carnahan said that she could tell which attendees at the Job Fair had attended these classes.
Participating businesses included CSN, Holiday Inn Express, Wolf Creek Golf Course, Highland Manor, The Lindi Corp, Bulloch Brothers Engineering, Star Nursery, One Stop Career Center, Mesquite Gaming and more.
“So far it looks like we may have some interviews,” said Crystal Gwaltney who represented Star Nursery at the event.
Gwaltney said that the company has hired employees before from interviews that had been set up at previous Mesquite job fairs.
Whitney Badger. of recruiting organization Express Employment Professionals, was also pleased with the turnout and productivity of the event.
“It’s great so far,” she said.
Kimberly Woolsey with Primex agreed. “I’ve got five interviews so far,” she said.
Justine Jackson with Wolf Creek Golf Course experienced the pros and cons of seeking employers at the job fair. “We have a decent amount (of applicants) so far,” she said. “A lot of people don’t have their health or TAM Card and we need those.”
Jackson said that individuals who have recently moved to Mesquite aren’t aware of those requirements by many employers. She said she spent much of her time educating potential employees on where they need to go to obtain those.
Overall the event was filled with businesses and job seekers who made the rounds collecting applications. Tables were set up to assist with individuals filling out the applications to immediately return to the businesses where they hoped they would be hired.
