Work in progress

Job fair attracts thousands to Kalispell mall

When Jeff Ferguson was discharged as a commissioned officer in the U.S. Army, he was told not to squander the chance to make a good first impression when applying for a job.

"No matter what position you're going for, they told you to go one step up," he said. "If it's a T-shirt job, wear a shirt and tie. If it's a shirt-and-tie job, wear a suit."

Ferguson, 29, took no chances when he was attending the 2009 Employment Exploration Expo at Kalispell Center Mall on Thursday. He opted for the suit.

Along with about 4,000 other people - up from 1,500 during the 2008 expo - Ferguson was walking the mall looking at options for employment, career training and education. Thirty-two employers were on-site, with 19 booths offering training opportunities and 21 service organizations giving advice, with some even looking for volunteers.

"The only disappointment I had was that I wish more employers would have come out," said Roberta Diegel, a work-force consultant for the Flathead Job Service and co-organizer of the job fair. "What a perfect opportunity to add to your staff."

Diegel said, with the exception of Flathead Valley Community College, every group offering job training was new to the fair this year. Agencies and schools focused on retraining were such a big presence at this year's event partly because some large-scale layoffs locally allow for financial assistance through programs such as the Trade Adjustment Assistance Program.

Matt Egloff, a lab director in general engineering for Montana Tech in Butte, wanted the school to have a presence at the fair, in part to show solidarity with former co-workers laid off from Semitool who are "victims of the business cycles."

Egloff worked at Semitool about a decade ago.

"Tech's engineering programs are focused on power, roads and bridges, which are stable no matter what the economy," he said. "I thought I'd come up here and see if I could get some people to come through our programs."

For those with less-mechanical inclinations, Melissa Totzauer was touting the Pela Beauty Academy, which opened in Whitefish's Mountain Mall in November.

"The beauty industry is a recession-proof industry," she said. "You can take your license anywhere in the world, it's fun, you can set your own hours."

Totzauer said the school of cosmetology and manicuring accepts all sources of state funding and job retraining money - and men shouldn't shy away from the profession.

"We'd like to have more guys," she said. "Unfortunately, they can make more money in this than women."

There also was a heavy presence with law enforcement, with booths for the Montana Highway Patrol, U.S. Border Patrol and U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

"Law enforcement is huge right now for jobs, as is medical," Diegel said.

Another new aspect of the job fair this year was assistance provided by the Society of Human Resource Managers. The group was providing resume critiques and mock interviews to help people develop their skills in securing jobs, as well as assisting them in filling out employment applications provided by the employers at the job fair.

Laurie O'Leary, a member of the human resources organization, said they were seeing many who were well-prepared to find jobs, but were searching for an edge.

"They want some tips with the low amount of jobs, and they wonder why they're not getting jobs, and what they can do to improve their interview skills," O'Leary said.

Gay Breeze was one of the many who signed up to add a little polish to her resume. She has been looking for a job for nine months after she was laid off from her accounting position with local wholesale company J.W. Pike.

She wants to find a position in the accounting field, but the opportunities have been scarce.

"I'm probably at the discouraged level now, there are so few jobs out there," Breeze said.

There were some optimistic signs at the job fair, though, with dozens of employment possibilities in businesses such as Wal-Mart, soon to build a new supercenter on U.S. 93; Super 1 Foods, which will need from 89 to 90 people for its new grocery store in the old Tidyman's building in Kalispell; and Stellar Recovery, a debt-collection agency.

Super 1 Evergreen's assistant store manager Deanne Willard was at the job fair last year, but said Thursday's event seemed decidedly busier. She also thought people appeared more serious about their job hunts and were more focused on their appearance.

How they presented their potential for customer service was important to Willard.

"You can tell right off the bat whether they're good with people, if they come up and smile and make eye contact," Willard said.

Bob Peterson of Stellar Recovery said business is looking good for his collection agency, which currently has 60 employees. The business is looking to hire 100 more debt collectors for its Kalispell call center in the next year.

"Amazing," was how he described the interest in the jobs at Stellar Recovery, which focuses on collections for national banks, not for local firms.

"Right now we have a lot of business," he said. "We're trying to take advantage of that."

Cheri Nelson, owner of Express Employment Professionals, said people seem "more determined, more serious about needing work" than in past years.

Her business provides temporary and permanent employment in office services, retail and industrial sectors. She said that though manufacturing is slow, recent signs could be encouraging for everyone, as her office has seen two consecutive weeks of growth.

"We're the last to see a recession and the first to see the economy come back," she said.

Reporter Heidi Gaiser may be reached at 758-4431 or by e-mail at hgaiser@dailyinterlake.com