Hundreds flock to Maricopa Job Fair (video)

By Adam Wolfe

Over 350 Maricopa residents attended Arizona Workforce Connection’s job fair at Harrah’s Ak-Chin Wednesday.

In total, 52 vendors showed up to talk with Maricopa residents in need of jobs. The ballroom was nearly filled wall to wall with employers and prospective employees, and the line to attend nearly reached the casino floor.  Local job hunters put on their best attire and brought their resumes.

Companies and organizations from many facets of business set up tables for the event. Maricopa Unified School District, Maricopa Police Department, the U.S. Border Patrol, Walmart and Lowe’s were among the vendors, but each offered unique opportunities for members of the community in need of work.

“We’ve had a great turnout,” MUSD Director of Human Services Tom Beckett said. “We had an event like this at the college last year, but didn’t get much foot traffic. It’s been a busy day.”

According to Arizona Workforce Connection business service liaison Linda Martinez, the job fair turned out exactly as they had hoped.

“We had 350 candidates walk through the door yesterday,” Martinez said. “I will be following up with employers to see if they hired any candidates from the job fair.  I spoke with one employer yesterday and he is interested in several candidates. Two other employers stated they collected several great resumes.”

When the job fair first came about, Martinez hoped to get 40 employers interested in attending. The 52 that showed up pushed the first AWC event in Maricopa well beyond expectations for the community.

VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/embed/x4JLBr2YtWw