Job fair and veterans summit in Modesto next week

An improved Stanislaus County employment picture has led organizers of the Central Valley Job Fair and Veterans Summit to be “more inventive” about recruiting job seekers and ensuring that participating employers are able to find the talent they need.

The event, featuring 60 employers – all with permanent positions to fill – will be Wednesday at Modesto Centre Plaza and will offer a one-hour early start for veterans. The fair/summit is hosted by Rep. Jeff Denham’s office in partnership with the Stanislaus Business Alliance, the Alliance Worknet and Small Business Development Center and the Modesto Vet Center, among several others.

Unemployment in the county was 9.4 percent in February, unchanged from January and well below the year-ago 10.8 percent, according to the state’s Employment Development Department. “Employers are still looking, but it’s harder to find (workers) because of the higher demand for people who are motivated,” said Amber Edwards of the Stanislaus Business Alliance.

Organizers reached the venue capacity of employers for this year’s fair, but Denham wants to expand in the future, Edwards said. To make that happen, organizers are “stepping up our game,” she said. They’re visiting other job fairs to learn from them. They’ve done some target advertising, like on the Riverbank movie screens showing “Batman v. Superman,” which they figured would be popular with young veterans and other job seekers. They spread the word online through Facebook and Eventbrite, so applicants could prepare.

And at the fair, Datapath is sponsoring an Internet cafe, where attendees can do some quick research on participating employers and refine their résumés.

“Last year, we had over 1,100 people,” Edwards said, “and about 300 were veterans. Our goal every year is to try to get as many veterans as possible.” Because helping them get work is an important cause for Denham, veterans get preregistration perks including the early admission and a shorter line than general job seekers.

Some of the participating employers also may hold special appeal to vets, she said. “The kind of people who like to serve in the military often are who’d like to work in security or law enforcement. That’s why we do a guard card training. And there’s high demand in our area for security.”

New to the job fair this year, the security guard training March 18 was offered free of charge – usually a $150 course, Edwards said – to National Guard members, military reservists, veterans and their spouses. Twelve veterans took part, earning the cards required to work as a security guard.

The California Highway Patrol will participate, seeking an officer/cadet. City of Modesto positions include a police officer and an officer trainee. Rank Investigations wants armed and unarmed security officers. And Universal Protection Service seeks security officers.

Also held last week and this week by the Alliance Worknet were “job fair success” workshops and a résumé review session. The workshops and résumé reviews previously were held during the job fair, but employers saw it as a detraction to take away large groups of people during the time they could be on the event floor.

Organizers also realized it was a disservice to attendees to do résumé reviews on-site because it was too late to make improvements. It could lower morale to then approach employers while equipped with a lackluster résumé, Edwards said.

A sampling of other employers and open positions: Amazon, staffing specialist; Ball Metal Food Container, industrial electrician; Doctors Medical Center, registered nurse for the neonatal intensive care unit; E.&J. Gallo Winery, director of talent acquisition; and JP Morgan Chase Co., branch manager trainee.

For more on the Central Valley Job Fair and Veterans Summit, including a registration link that lists participating employers, go to tinyurl.com/zl7yopt.

This story was originally published March 31, 2016 at 2:12 PM with the headline "Job fair and veterans summit in Modesto next week."