Over 900 Job Seekers Attend Cherokee Career Expo

More than 900 applicants, armed with resumes, lined up March 25 at the first ever Cherokee Career Expo to speak one-on-one with recruiters from 30 of the county’s top employers.

That’s according to the Cherokee Office of Economic Development, which hosted the expo at the Northside Hospital-Cherokee Conference Center.

The turn-out exceeded all expectations, COED said. Recruiters were initially looking to fill about 600 vacancies.

Even before the doors opened to the public, about 200 job seekers were mulling about in the lobby of the Conference Center, waiting to go inside and lock down a new career.

“This is what we’ve been looking for to recruit candidates within the county,” said T.C. Chapman of Roytec Industries Incorporated. “You always hear about people looking for work. Well, flip that around. This is a prime example of corporations looking for skilled workers.”

Carolyn McGarty, senior human resources generalist at Chart Industries, added they received “well over 200 resumes.”

“We’ve already reached out to some of the candidates to come in and interview with the hiring managers,” she said.

President of the Cherokee Office of Economic Development (COED) Misti Martin identified the need for a career expo around the first of the year after interviewing Cherokee industry leaders for a biennial survey.

“It almost became a common theme in talking with the county’s existing industries,” said Martin. “We heard time and time again how they could use help finding a qualified work force. And since they requested it, we went to work to deliver.”

COED partnered with the Georgia Department of Labor, and within about three weeks planned, organized and executed the four-hour expo. Admittedly, no one really knew what kind of crowd to expect, since it was the first of its kind. In fact, a recruiter called COED the afternoon before the event to ask how many applications to bring.

When she was told 300, she laughed and said she needed about 20 at the last job fair she attended.

Yet, on the day of the event, a steady crowd continued throughout the entire day, talking non-stop with recruiters. The line for Northside Hospital alone stretched across the room and out the back door the entire event.

Career advisors from Chattahoochee Technical College worked non-stop helping an influx of candidates improve their resumes. When a hearing impaired job seeker arrived on site, COED had an interpreter ready and waiting to help.

The event’s success, however, was predicted years ago, COED stated.

Around 2009, the Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC) released a Regional Snapshot indicating Cherokee County would lead the Atlanta region in job growth until 2040, predicting a 166.3 percent increase in jobs.

That prediction came full circle and came to life with the success of the Cherokee Career Expo, COEd officials said.

“There’s just no doubt,” said Martin. “Cherokee County’s time is now.”

Photo credit: Cherokee Office of Economic Development