Fairfield arts center to host ‘atypical’ job fair

FAIRFIELD — The Fairfield Arts & Convention Center will hold an “atypical” job fair from 1-4 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 27.

The job fair is being organized by IowaWORKS. Samuel E. Busch, IowaWORKS business marketing specialist who works in its Ottumwa office, said the job fair is being billed as “atypical” to signify that it is wide-ranging, intended for people of all skill levels in every sector of the economy.

“It’s not really themed to any particular type of industry like construction or health care, but is rather a hodgepodge of employers in those sectors plus financial services, manufacturing and nonprofits,” Busch said.

IowaWORKS serves 10 counties in southern Iowa including Jefferson and Van Buren counties. Busch said the organization does six to 10 job fairs per year, and that attendance at them in recent months has been good, with 50-100 job seekers at each one.

“We’ve had a good turnout from our perspective and the employers’ perspective,” Busch said.

Busch said employers are hungry to find workers, and that this is a job seekers’ market.

“It’s been a hard sell for employers to try to find employees during this job market,” he said. “Before the pandemic, it was an employers’ market.”

To find employees, companies have had to raise wage, increase benefits and do anything possible to make themselves attract, such as adopting a more flexible work schedule, Busch said. They’ve also taken a second look at candidates they might have previously passed over, such as ex-offenders.

Busch said his office usually holds its job fairs in the afternoon, sometimes going as late as 5:30 to attract those people who have jobs but want a different one. He said he’s seeing more people attend job fairs who are already employed, but want to move up the ladder.

“In this job market, almost every employer is paying $15 per hour,” he said. “As a job seeker, you have your choice of employers.”

Busch said he talks to companies about how they can be more attractive to potential employees. He said companies must realize that, just as they sell a product, they have to sell themselves to workers as a nice place to work.

“Also, how are you going to maintain that relationship after the employee is on board?” he said. “You need to be a company that makes people want to work for you after you hire them.”

Those who miss Thursday’s job fair in Fairfield will have another chance to attend one on March 10 in Ottumwa, hosted by Indian Hills Community College.

Call Andy Hallman at 641-575-0135 or email him at andy.hallman@southeastiowaunion.com