CareerSource brings regional career fair to FGCU Wednesday, busses in high school seniors

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Candidates meeting recruiters at a career fair. Credit: WINK News

CareerSource’s Wednesday job fair at Florida Gulf Coast University is poised to be the largest since the pandemic started, held at the Alico Arena to benefit job-seekers and businesses of Southwest Florida that say they’re in desperate need of workers.

50 to 60 seniors from five Lee County high schools—Bonita Springs, Cape Coral, Island Coast, Riverdale and Cypress Lake—will be bussed into this job fair, where they will get the opportunity to perfect their interviewing skills, speak with businesses and touch up their resumes.

Kelly Thawley, a career specialist with the School District of Lee County says this fair is really a win-win for everybody.

“This is an opportunity to also kind of tap into some of our high school students who don’t have plans after high school and start recruiting them and maybe showing them some opportunities that they didn’t previously think of,” Thawley said. “We have encouraged the high schoolers to dress professionally, put their best face forward, to be prepared with resumes so that they can at least practice their interview skills. And hopefully, ultimately, we want to give each of them a job.”

In March, a record 4.5 million Americans quit their jobs. Economists say workers are now confident they can find better jobs, and that could be the case for many at the career fair. While some restaurants, for instance, have had to close off sections or reduce hours because of an employee shortage, it’s hoped that the nearly 100 businesses showing up on Wednesday won’t see this issue moving forward.

“We are a large travel leisure industry, we have plenty of openings there,” said Amy Hanna-Eckenrode with CareerSource Southwest Florida. “Health care is another field that we often don’t think about, very challenging times right now for the healthcare field… we will have over 80 businesses on hand that will be looking to hire, some of those businesses might even be offering on-the-spot interviews.”

Manufacturing, technology and construction companies will also be present.

There will be two sessions of this career fair offered at FGCU’s Alico Arena, located at 12181 FGCU Lake Parkway E. The first is from 9 a.m. to noon and the second is from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.

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