Hundreds Attend Job Fair At SFCC

The unemployment rate in Highlands County is more than 8 percent and that was put in harsh perspective Thursday at South Florida Community College.

An estimated 550 job seekers, including many professionals with degrees and reportedly one with a doctorate, showed up for a job fair sponsored by Heartland Workforce and SFCC.

Thirty employers, including some from outside the area, attended.

"They were very pleased with the talent that was present at the job fair," said Cheryl Sharp, business operations director for Heartland Workforce.

A tough housing market is the reason Margo Isaia of Duzitall LLC, which provides mobile notary home services, came to the job fair.

"The housing business is in a slump right now, and what I'm looking to do is either to use my type of education that I have as a certified signing agent, possibly for banking, for things like that," Isaia said.

"Anything that I can find that will increase what I'm doing now," she said. "At this point I don't have the income coming in."

Isaia said she spoke with about 15 employers and is encouraged about finding employment.

"I've got some great possibilities," she said. "I do have some applications here and I do have several Web sites that I will be getting on and putting my application in."

Don Selvage, senior professional human resources for NCT Group, was attending his first job fair at SFCC.

"We're always looking for good accountants," Selvage said. "I find even in slow economy that good accountants are still in demand."

NCT, which has offices in Sebring, Winter Haven and Lakeland, is looking for a full-charge bookkeeper that can handle everything from journal entries to payroll and financial statements.

"What we really are trying to do here is plant the seed in young accounting students." Selvage said. "So that when they get their two years done and they go to Webber, UF, UCF they'll think don't forget their is a public accounting firm back in Highlands County that I want to talk to."

TECO Energy has approximately 15 to 20 jobs open, but most of them are in the Tampa Bay area, according to Julie Gildea, senior recruiter.

"A few have said that they could (relocate)," Gildea said. "They need work."

At the TECO table, Gildea gave out cards that looked like baseball cards. On the front of one is a photograph of a lineman and on the back is a brief description of the job, qualifications and salary.

Most of the people Gildea met were looking for entry level positions.

"A lot of folks don't seem to know what we do, but that's probably because we don't have a strong presence in the area," she said.

Glades Electric Cooperative Inc. has one position open and that is for a journeyman lineman.

Paul McGehee, business development manager, explained that an entry level job at Glades Electric is a groundsman. Depending on the person's skill and aptitude, he could be in that job four to seven months, at which time he becomes an apprentice.

There is a 6,000-hour apprenticeship to go through before a person becomes a journeyman lineman. McGehee noted that courses are offered at SFCC to give a framework of knowledge and skill sets to actually start as a "real good groundsman."

"We've seen several professional (people), two ex-military that were very sharp," McGehee said. "We have actually had a lot of young ladies that have stopped by that are interested in a trade career. They were looking for electric career or A/C type careers."

A state agency with plenty of openings is the Florida Highway Patrol. Trooper Linda Popanz, background investigator/recruiter, said the FHP has more than 100 positions open for troopers around the state.

Popanz said she was "very impressed" with the people she spoke with. She handed out more than 26 applications.

"I have seen several that I think would be eligible for the position of state trooper," she said. "Of course they have to meet the minimum requirements, go through the complete hiring process. But I do see several great candidates that I'm excited about."

The starting salary is $33,977.04.