Get Ready To Put Your Best Foot Forward: 26 Area Employers Want To Check You Out

The range of job opportunities at the 1998 Career Fair is mind-boggling.

Twenty-six Spokane-area companies and non-profit organizations will be on hand with positions ranging from retail to the social services, from software development to trucking.

Have you ever longed for the life of a real estate agent? Had a hankering to work on a Website? Thought the medical services industry sounded intriguing?

Now’s your chance to learn more about those businesses and more.

Many of the area’s best employers will be at the fair, including The Spokesman-Review, Goodwill Industries, Eagle Hardware & Garden and Waddell & Reed.

They’re coming to the Career Fair to meet you, to spread the word about their companies and to strengthen their rosters.

“We’re looking forward to meeting and talking with people,” said Darlene Ferguson, an employment specialist at the Sallie Mae Servicing Corp. “This will be a great opportunity for us to be a part of the career fair with other employers.”

Recruiters who attend this special one-day event encourage to to come prepared, to be dressed appropriately for your chosen profession and to have a neatly typed resume ready for distribution.

If you can, plan to spend some time at the Career Fair: The seminars will offer you valuable tips on a variety of subjects, from how to interview to whether you should choose a job in the non-profit sector.

And planning to take your time means you’ll be ready, just in case a recruiter would like to spend a little time with you.

“People should give themselves enough time that they can stop and speak with someone,” said Kay Cadero, a sales representative at the Volt Services Group.

And candidates who come armed with information about their target employers will be a step ahead of the competition.

“It would definitely be helpful if they know there are companies at the career fair that they would like to know more about; they should think ahead about questions to ask.”

Employers say they’re looking for general office support, for management types, for customer service reps with great telephone techniques.

There’s room for teachers, counselors and skilled outdoors instructors. Communicators, problem solvers and hard workers are always at a premium.

This year’s employers are looking for a good mix of education and experience, with the emphasis on experience. Attitude is everything, they say, when it comes to landing that job - and when it comes to keeping it.

Where do you fit into that picture? That’s up to you. But this much is certain: This is your best chance to get to know the companies that are hiring in Spokane County, to meet the decision-makers who could hold the keys to your future.