Nevada Career Fair Thursday afternoon

Missouri Career Center

The purpose of the Career Fair is:

To connect job seekers with employment and educational opportunities as well as community resources and to assist employers with locating qualified job seekers.

Why have a Career Fair?

Certainly the closing of American Standard played a significant role in the decision to plan the Career Fair for June 18, from noon to 5 p.m. The day and time was coordinated with American Standard to include and reach as many of those laid-off employees as possible. However, as always, the Nevada Career Fair will be open to the public and all job seekers are encouraged to attend.

What's the expected attendance?

That is a hard number to guess. In the past, the job fairs have experienced very good turnouts by both job seekers and employers in Nevada. We are anticipating this to be a widely attended event as we have been promoting the Career Fair by posting flyers at local educational facilities and Nevada businesses. Additionally, regular updates on participating employers are available on our Facebook page at Missouri Career Center-Nevada. This information may also be obtained by giving us a call at 417-448-1177 or coming into the Missouri Career Center Nevada at 621 E. Highland Ave., Ste. 3.

Who will be attending?

We set a deadline of June 8 so we will know how many tables and chairs to set up. We have had businesses as far away as Joplin, Harrisonville, Pittsburg, Ft. Scott and Springfield inquire about registering. We have several fields that will be represented including manufacturing, health care, labor and mental health. Regular updates on participating employers can be found on our Facebook page at Missouri Career Center Nevada.

What can one expect from the job fair?

It is very typical to see employers interviewing job seekers at Career Fairs. This is why we recommend that job seekers come "dressed to impress," complete with an updated resume.

Anything that would help a prospective employee? What about employers?

Being prepared at a Career Fair is essential to make a good first impression. Make the same effort in preparing to attend the Career Fair as you would in preparing for an important job interview.

Job seekers are advised to be well groomed, have a current resume, research companies that you know will be attending, and be polite.

The Nevada Career Center offers workshops on improving your interview skills and how to develop a winning resume. These workshops are available to the public. Job seekers should contact the Career Center for scheduled workshop times.

For employers, we advise bringing plenty of blank applications and business cards. Be ready to answer questions about your company. Most important is to plan to stay for the entire duration of the Career Fair.

It is not uncommon to see a rush of interested job seekers towards the end of the event. It is disappointing for those who make a special effort to attend a hiring event or Career Fair and find that employers have left early. Employers may miss meeting that one job candidate who would have been an excellent match for their organization.

What else is available for displaced workers?

It is our business at the Nevada Career Center to assist all job seekers become better job candidates. This is accomplished through skill and interest assessments to help unemployed individuals make informed choices on their next career move.

We offer the opportunity to earn a National Career Readiness Certificate that is recognized nationwide and documents an individual's skill level in three critical areas.

Workshops are offered on a wide variety of subjects, tuition assistance and on-the job training opportunities are examples of the services offered through the Missouri Career Center in Nevada. In addition, referrals are made to partner agencies and community resources based on the needs of the customer.

Three benefits of the Career Center

* Career counseling with staff knowledgeable of the area labor market and employer preferences

* Use of a computer lab for our free workshops, remediation, exploring skill and interest assessments, company research, resume preparation, etc.

* Training opportunities and placement guidance/assistance

How can the Career Center help employers?

The Missouri Career Centers help employers in many ways. We offer an On-the-Job Training program. This program allows a qualifying employer to hire and train program-eligible individuals at their own worksite using their own staff as trainers. In return, the employer is reimbursed up to 50 percent of the new trainee's wages for a specified period of time. This process provides a worker that lacks some of the required skills to still become employed and the employer benefits by having his training time and efforts subsidized.

The Career Centers also administer the Workkeys test for the National Career Readiness Certification. This is a nationally recognized work ready credential provided by ACT and tests work ready skills. Employers like job seekers to have this certification so they know the skill set of the job seeker applying for a job.

We can also enter job orders for employers on our website jobs.mo.gov or can assist employers in posting their own job orders. We create and open job orders, provide applications to qualifying job seekers as well as accept applications and resumes for open job orders.

Other useful information to know

We have had a lot of positive feedback from area employers and agencies wanting to know how they can assist with not only the American Standard layoff but also with the Career Fair. We have received donations to use as door prizes as well as providing snacks and beverages for the employers during the Career Fair. This has been a huge help since we are a non-profit organization.