Job fair popular with job seekers

Charles Oliver

Clara Towns had worked 22 years in the carpet industry before being laid off in May. The Chatsworth woman joined more than 3,000 people from at least four states at the Northwest Georgia Trade and Convention Center on Tuesday. The trade center hosted the North Georgia Career Expo and Job Fair, which the state Department of Labor called one of the largest ever held in North Georgia.

“All the jobs I’ve been looking at require a college degree,” said Towns. “I started out as a teenager and worked my way up back when you didn’t need a college degree.”

Towns, who was previously a supervisor in quality control, said she learned she might be eligible for government assistance with job training and education.

“You can’t pay for tuition and groceries on unemployment,” she said.

Georgia Department of Labor Commissioner Michael Thurmond said that was the point of the job fair.

“Not everyone who comes here will leave with a job offer. But everyone should leave with something of value,” he said.

In addition to more than 70 employers, the expo featured human resources officials who helped job seekers polish their resumes for free, social service agencies to help them understand what benefits they might qualify for, and about a dozen colleges and schools that could provide training.

Joe Tanner, who graduated from high school in Rome in May, attended a workshop on job interviews.

“I really learned a lot, how to present myself and answer questions,” he said.

Tanner said one key thing he learned is that if the interviewer asks if he has questions he should always ask some. For instance, he said, one suggested question is whether the job you are applying for is a new one or one that has become vacant.

One man, who declined to give his name, said he’d benefited from the resume writing class.

“I’ve never had to write a resume before. I’ve never really had to look for a job before. I always had something lined up or found one pretty quickly,” he said.

The job fair opened at 1 p.m., and trade center officials said people were already lined up at the door. In fact, at about 1 p.m. traffic to the trade center was backed up Dug Gap Battle Road all the way to West Bridge Road.

Tags in the parking lots showed plenty of vehicles from Whitfield and Murray counties, but there were also cars from Hamilton and Bradley counties in Tennessee, from Alabama and North Carolina, and from Dade, Clayton, Fulton, DeKalb, Houston and Coweta counties in Georgia.

“We didn’t intend this, but it has really become a multi-state job fair,” said Thurmond. “It is unfortunate that so many people are looking for jobs, but it’s also inspiring that these people haven’t given up hope.”

Thurmond noted that the latest unemployment numbers had been released earlier in the day Thursday and they showed the jobless rate in Georgia had inched up to 10.2 percent in October, from 10.1 percent in September.

“Things will get better, but it will be later rather than sooner,” Thurmond said. “Unfortunately, we still have some tough months in front of us. But I have faith in America and the America economy and the American worker. We’ve faced challenges before, tougher than these, and every time the American worker was up to the challenge, and this time will be no different.”

Thurmond said this is the first job fair that has been held in Dalton by the department in several years. He said the department brought the job fair here in part because the area has been so hard hit by the recession. The Dalton Metro area, which includes Whitfield and Murray counties, shed 5,900 jobs between October 2008 and October 2009.

“We’ve also been impressed by the local leadership and their efforts to restore and rebuild the economy, and we wanted to help lend our hand and support that effort,” he said.

The Dalton-Whitfield Chamber of Commerce was at the job fair trying to encourage job seekers to register for the Georgia Work Ready exam. The exam certifies that workers have the skills that employers are looking for. Those who pass the test and get the work ready certificate can earn between $50 and $100, depending on how well they do.

The chamber is trying to get Whitfield County declared a “work ready” community, which requires getting more than 1,000 residents certified.

Brian Cooksey, chairman of the chamber’s work force development committee, said being named a work ready community will boost economic development by showing employers that residents have the skills the companies want.

The Georgia Department of Labor has a career center in Dalton that serves Whitfield and Murray counties. It is at 1406 Chattanooga Ave. The phone number is (706) 272-2301.