Corridor Career Fair Draws 1,100

ICAD Group, Priority 1, and Area Educational Partners Host Fair

by George Ford, Cedar Rapids Gazette

The last time Vickie Houser was looking for a job, the hiring climate was decidedly different from what it is today.

"In the past when I've looked for a job, it's always been very quick," said Houser, a graphic designer from Cedar Rapids attending the Corridor Career Fair Saturday at Kirkwood Community College. "I've been off work for five months and I really didn't think it would take this long to find another job."

About 1,100 job seekers attended the career fair in the Michael J. Gould Recreation Center. Rainy weather may have held down attendance, which was expected to be much higher than previous years due to the slow economy.

Larry Mayer of Marengo made the trip to explore what was available after being out of work for about five months.

"I'm looking to see what is available," said Mayer, who came to Cedar Rapids 15 years ago to work in information technology at MCI and later transitioned into customer service. "Hopefully the economy will turn around and we can get some more hiring."

For some, like Brad Avis of Cedar Rapids who is looking for work in corporate safety, layoffs are becoming a learning experience.

"This is the second time that I've been laid off," Avis said. "I was laid off from McLeodUSA for six months before I found a new job.

"This time, I'm a little better prepared for a job search. I know it's going to take a little more time and diligent work on my part of following through with people."

While the majority of those attending the career fair were from Eastern Iowa, there were some notable exceptions.

Janell Scardino, an employee of the University of South Dakota, used the event to check out employment opportunities in her native Iowa.

"I'm just finishing a master's degree in computer science," Scardino said. "I'm looking to move back to Eastern Iowa. I have a niece that lives here and I'm originally from Dubuque."

Diane Vanis, director of human resources at GreatAmerica Leasing Corp., said a larger labor pool has allowed the Cedar Rapids company to hire some experienced applicants.

"We recently hired some dot-Net programmers and a couple of project managers," Vanis said. "We were able to tap into some talent that was not available in the past. We've been able to pick from the cream of the crop."

While some of the 60-plus employers at Saturday's Corridor Career Fair at Kirkwood Community College were hiring, most were accepting applications for future openings.

"Currently, Whirlpool is not doing any hiring, but we are taking applications for factory opportunities to keep our labor pool open," said Matthew Russell, a human resources associate at Whirlpool Appliances in Amana. "We're also encouraging anybody interested in salary opportunities to set up on our Web site (www.whirlpoolcareers.com)."

Despite layoffs at several Eastern Iowa manufacturing plants, and two pending plant closings (Midland Forge and Sealed Air Cryovac), company representatives did not see many factory workers Saturday.

"I've handed out a number of applications, but they weren't for factory jobs," Russell said. "Most of the people I've talked with are here looking for management positions."

Destiny Hastings, director of career services at Kaplan University in Cedar Rapids, said the college is seeing a growing number of older workers inquiring about retraining opportunities.

"In many cases, they're looking to do something different," Hastings said. "They realize that they need to update their skills to get a job in today's economy."