ROGERS — Hundreds of job seekers gathered Monday in Rogers to pass out resumes, talk to potential employers and hopefully beat the lagging unemployment left behind by the recession.
The NWA Job Fair attracted 70 employers trying to fill about 1,000 jobs, said Jennifer Haile, director of marketing and communications for the Rogers-Lowell Area Chamber of Commerce.
Unfortunately, that’s about the same as the spring job fair, she said.
“We’re hoping that will pick up,” she said.
AT A GLANCE
Why A Job Fair?
The Internet makes it possible to search for jobs and submit resumes without leaving the house, much less putting on a tie. So why bother hosting or going to a job fair?
“You really help yourself stand out by making a great first impression. I think it really gives you a leg up to put a face with a resume instead of just submitting it online.” — Jennifer Haile, director of marketing and communication, Rogers-Lowell Area Chamber of Commerce
“It gives people the opportunity to network. Even if you don’t get anything today, we keep our resumes and might come back to you.” — Terri Kirkland, staffing specialist, Advantage Staffing
Source: Staff Report
Jeanne Agusto hopes so, too. She moved to Garfield from a Boston suburb about a year ago after her husband injured his back and had to leave his job as a manager for Goodwill Industries, she said.
Agusto, a mother of two, said she’s been looking for a job since then without much luck. She’s applied at hotels, grocery stores and restaurants.
“Anywhere that would have a paycheck,” she said, while trying to keep hold of her youngest son, a squirmy toddler.
She heard about the job fair while she was picking up groceries from a church food pantry, she said. She credited her difficulty with the job search to her lack of a high school diploma and to the economy.
Preliminary numbers from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics show a 6.5 percent unemployment rate for August for the Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers Metropolitan Statistical Area.
That’s up 0.1 percent from July.
Economists expect some job growth over the coming months, said Kathy Deck, director of the Center for Business and Economic Research at the University of Arkansas.
“I don’t think anybody’s going to be doing tap dances about how wonderful the job market is,” she said.
But Deck noted the area has fared better than most. The national unemployment rate for September was 9.6 percent, according to the bureau.
Some at the job fair are currently employed, but looking for something else.
Kristi Martin said she’s a real estate agent, but was looking at the fair for a clerical or other job that was less affected by the recession and housing crash.
“I love it,” she said of her current job. “I absolutely love it. But you know, commission.”
Many of the booths Martin visited didn’t have any clerical openings, just sales. She did get leads with two employment agencies.
Her first lead came from Terri Kirkland, a staffing specialist for Advantage Staffing.
Kirkland said she’s seen more employees staying put, perhaps wary of changing jobs then getting laid off.
“The job market is challenging, to say the least,” she said.