Looking for work? Try Job Expo at Covelli

By Karl Henkel | September 5, 2011 at 12:08a.m.

IF YOU GO

WHAT: Ohio-Penn Interstate Region Job Expo
WHEN: Noon to 5 p.m. Sept. 22.
WHERE: Covelli Centre, 229 East Front St.
WHY: Last year’s event featured 85 employers and 30 training providers. All industries were represented with job openings at all levels.

Source: Trumbull, Mahoning and Columbiana County One-Stops, Pennsylvania CareerLink.

YOUNGSTOWN

Start from the bottom, and work your way up.

That’s the mantra for workers at Kaleidoscope Project Inc., a direct-care aide business with locations in the Mahoning Valley that recently hosted interviews for full-time positions.

“If you stay with it and do your job, you’ll climb,” said Chris Canale, Kaleidoscope home coordinator.

Work-force development trends will be one of many features that job seekers can experience at this year’s Ohio-Penn Interstate Region Job Expo, scheduled from noon to 5 p.m. Sept. 22 at the Covelli Centre.

“In a lot of industries and professions, you start at one level,” said Gloria Matthews of the Mahoning and Columbiana County One-Stops, which along with Pennsylvania CareerLink have teamed for the annual event. “And it’s very easy to work your way up the ladder with training and experience.” Job seekers also have the opportunity to learn tips and tricks at three other workshops: An entrepreneurial workshop for those interested in starting their own business; a “First Impressions” workshop where local company officials will share secrets on what they look for during interviews; and “Dress for Success,” which details what job seekers should wear to interviews.

“The job seeker needs to understand that when they are at the expo and they walk up to an employer, shake that recruiter’s hand and hand them a resume, they need to make a good impression,” Matthews said. “They can’t just come in with cutoffs and a T-shirt.”

Matthews said the expo should include about 85 employers and 30 training providers — about the same as last year’s event, which drew 3,500 job seekers who vied for about 1,600 jobs.

“It’s getting closer, and our activity level is picking up,” Matthews said. “We’re on track to be as big if not bigger than last year’s job expo.”

Employers’ names won’t be announced before the day of the event, but companies like V&M Star and Dearing Compressor & Pump, a Boardman-based manufacturer of industrial pumps and compressors used in natural-gas drilling, along with local schools Eastern Gateway Community College, Pennsylvania College of Technology and New Castle School of Trades, were all on hand.