Grace George, of Waxhaw, talks over employment possibilities with Union County Public Schools representative James Flemming during Friday's career fair at SPCC's Monroe campus. (RICK CRIDER/Enquirer-Journal)



SPCC hosts career fair
by Lacey Hampton, The Enquirer-Journal

People gathered job information and learned about job hunting resources at the 20th Annual Union County Career Connections Fair on Friday.

The career fair was held at South Piedmont Community College from 9 a.m.-1 p.m.

It included various companies from Union County and the surrounding region as well as some national companies, Linda Kappauf, SPCC’s director of human resources development, said.

“This is the 20th annual one in Union County,” she said. “We do it once a year in the spring.”

ATI Allvac, Carolinas Medical Center-Union, Greiner Bio-One and Turbomeca Manufacturing were some Union County companies featured in the fair. The fair usually brings in between 500-800 people each year. When the fair began about 9 a.m., a large crowd had already gathered in front of the building. The career fair is helpful for job seekers because it lets them talk one-on-one with potential employers, she said.

“Doing your job search these days is so impersonal,” she said. “This is their opportunity to get in front of the people hiring and make an impression.”

The fair had a mixture of companies looking to hire new individuals and others that had no current positions open but handed out information about the company and potential jobs in the future. The fair also featured companies offering training opportunities.

“We had a lot of people coming in inquiring,” Allison Kincaid, a SPCC senior who provided information about the school’s Medical Assisting program, said.

She will be graduating from the program in May and spent much of the fair educating people about what they can learn in the program. She also gave demonstrations with a fake arm used to teach students about taking someone’s blood pressure.

“We are looking to fill three positions in Charlotte, Durham and Carrboro,” Roberto Méndez, a branch manager for the Cooperativa Latino Credit Union, said.

The positions are entry level positions that include teller and member services representatives. Many people stopped by to fill out applications for the position, he said.

Those attending the fair were a mixture of unemployed job seekers and those looking for new career opportunities.

“I just want to get a job,” Cindy Collins of Wingate, said.

She has been looking for work about eight years. She previously worked in the manufacturing and healthcare professions but quit to take care of her grandmother. She found the career fair helpful and learned about a new job opportunities and resources she could look into, she said.

“I’ve gotten some contacts and given some people my resume.” Andrew Higgins of Waxhaw, said.

He came to the fair in search of jobs involving computer and IT work, he said.

Besides visiting companies at each different booth, those attending the job fair could participate in free job search related workshops. They also had the opportunity to learn more about the SPCC Career Cruiser and tour the “Mobile Launch Pad.”

The SPCC Career Cruiser is a mobile classroom the school plans to begin using after August. Various computer courses and other job training can be held in the classroom, which consists of a large mobile unit with 13 computers, Toby Carpenter, a SPCC career coach/instructor, said.

The Mobile Launch Pad is a mobile unit presented by the North Carolina Community College System and Duke Energy that features various equipment and information used to train individuals in aerospace, advanced manufacturing, energy and green technology, health care and life science, according to a Mobile Launch Pad brochure.

“It helps direct people to different careers,” Lisa Richman, a mobile lab instructor, said.