Church To Host Job Fair On June 27

Are you hunting for a job?

Then plan to attend the 2011 Bucks County Job Fair on Monday, June 27 at Washington Crossing United Methodist Church. This free community event will provide a chance for job hunters to meet Bucks County employers with job openings. The job fair will be held from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
 
"The recent economic downturn has opened a door for our church and other Bucks County congregations to reach out to our neighbors who are unemployed and underemployed," said Pierre Eade, job fair event coordinator. "Our church decided to host a job fair to find positions for job seekers, as well as encourage, support, and care for their plight."

This is the second year the church has sponsored a job fair. Last year’s job fair attracted about 30 local businesses and more than 400 job seekers.

"We extended the highest level of respect, personal care, and hospitality to everyone who came to the 2010 job fair and will do the same this June," Eade said.

“Volunteers will be praying for job hunters to find positions that match their skills and identifying community resources to assist them and their families. We know many prayers that were answered last year and individuals who were hired as a result of the job fair. We have faith and great expectations that the same will happen this year," Eade said.

Three major businesses and a small business owner discovered new hires at last year’s job fair, organizers said. First National Bank and Trust Company in Newtown, Jones Apparel Group in Bristol, and Express Employment Professionals in Trevose hired job candidates within a day of meeting them at the job fair.

Businesses said they were pleased with the quality of candidates at the 2010 job fair.

"I placed a candidate in a significant professional position the very next day," said Leo Craig, Jr. of Express Employment Professionals.  Jessica Dwyer, a corporate recruiter for Jones Apparel Group said she was impressed with the quality of candidates. “I hired one, but wanted to hire them all," Dwyer said.

Brian Fitzpatrick, owner of Brightstar Care, an in-house healthcare agency in Langhorne, said he attended last year’s job fair to seek employees and found it to be very productive. “This event produced more qualified candidates than one month of recruiting advertisements," Fitzpatrick said.

The job fair targets businesses with employment opportunities in everything from entry-level to administrative and management positions. According to Eade, the list of employers attending the job fair is growing and more companies are always welcomed.

In addition to one-on-one meetings with employers, the event gives job seekers the chance to network with each other and learn job-hunting tips from local experts. Free workshops facilitated by local business and human resource professionals will equip individuals with the tools to polish up resumes and interviewing skills, assess LinkedIn profiles, update financial information, and provide other job-related advice, organizers said.

Donna Serdula will be a workshop presenter at the Bucks County Job Fair. Serdula is a local social media consultant and LinkedIn profile writer. She will be speaking on "Finding Jobs in the Internet-savvy Millennium."  She is also the author of a new book, "LinkedIn Makeover: Professional Secrets to a Powerful LinkedIn Profile."

Admission is free to the 2011 Bucks County Job Fair, however, job-seekers and employers must pre-register online at www.buckscountyjobfair.com or by calling 215-493-5080.

For more information about the Bucks County Job Fair, visit www.buckscountyjobfair.com.