Career Fair Draws 1,500 Applicants Find Experience Pays Dividends In Job Market

Trained to be an accountant, Steve Learned knows the equation for job hunting: College degree minus experience equals no paycheck.

“I’m finding there’s a lot of people out there who have a lot of experience from places like Boeing, which are downsizing,” said Learned, 28, a recent graduate of Walla Walla College.

Tuesday, as the state government announced a slight increase in the still-low jobless rate, Learned and about 1,500 other hopefuls attended The Spokesman-Review Career Fair.

About 500 applicants squeezed through the Ag Trade Center doors in the first hour to meet with recruiters from 11 businesses.

“There were people lined up - real eager people,” said Cheryl Mills, a registered nurse who represented St. Luke’s Regional Medical Center in Boise. “They were here with a resume and a handshake.”

Some, like Learned, came in their Nordstrom best, looking to launch a career. Others wore jeans, tennis shoes and T-shirts, hoping for any position that would pay the bills.

A few were just shopping.

“In today’s world, you have to be ready to jump,” explained a 47-year-old computer engineer whose boss doesn’t know he attended the fair.

For Connie Wold, it was her first foray into the job market in 8 years. Her accounting job ends Friday at a Spokane Valley trucking company.

Wold, 47, already had sent resumes to most of the companies at the fair.

“Last time, it took me six months to find a job,” Wold said. “I’m hoping it doesn’t take that long this time.”

Darrin Bruck came to the fair because business is slow at Strictly Bathrooms Inc. He and a partner started the consulting firm last year to teach employees at restaurants, car dealerships and other businesses how to clean their restrooms.

“It just hasn’t picked up like we thought it would,” said Bruck, 29. “After 6 months, I’m ready to try something else.”

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Photo