NMCC hosts largest County-wide job fair

Billi Mitchell, (second from right) human resources business partner for Irving Woodlands, LLC and Jon Shaw, Irving maintenance superintendent, speak with prospective employees during the annual job fair at Northern Maine Community College on Thursday, March 22. (Melissa Lizotte)

PRESQUE ISLE, Maine — Representatives from 64 Aroostook County and Maine employers and over 100 job seekers from around the region filled the gymnasium at Northern Maine Community College on March 22 for the largest annual job fair that the campus has hosted since its beginning.

The job fair, which lasted from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., gave job seekers the opportunity to interact with the variety of employers, including those from the construction industry, local hospitals and healthcare agencies, forestry and business. Officials from the University of Maine at Presque Isle, NMCC and Husson University were also in attendance to speak with people who want to take their first steps into a new career through higher education.

According to the latest research from the Maine Department of Labor, Aroostook County’s unemployment rate was at 4.5 percent as of February 2018 compared to the current state average of 2.9 percent.

“What we often see when the unemployment rate is low is not as many people looking for jobs but more employers trying to fill positions,” said Heidi Carter, NMCC associate director of development and college relations. She said the need for qualified employees still exists throughout Aroostook County.

Many employers had already seen several qualified job candidates within the first half hour of the job fair. Billi Mitchell, human resources business partner from Irving Woodlands, LLC, said that the company has positions such as for entry-level general laborers, industrial electricians, road construction operators and administrative assistants available.

“We’ve already had a few very promising candidates come through already,” Mitchell said, at 9:30 Thursday morning. “In the past we’ve found that this is a great place to find highly-skilled employees.”

Dustin MacDougal of Limestone came in search of a job related to equipment operation and left with many applications that he was ready to fill out and submit to companies.

“I knew that there would be a lot of different employers here, so I figured this would be a good place to start looking,” MacDougal said.

Area hospitals and healthcare service providers were well represented at the job fair, with officials from The Aroostook Medical Center, Cary Medical Center and Pines Health Services available to speak with potential applicants. Penny Wickstrom, human resources specialist for Pines Health Services, said she saw the event as an opportunity to reach out to individuals in the community.

“We have both clinical and non-clinical positions open and so we saw this as a good way to connect with job seekers,” Wickstrom said.

The job fair also served as a place for college students to search for temporary work while attending school or full-time employment in their chosen career field upon graduation.

Raven Reynolds, a first-year student in NMCC’s early childhood education program, has experience as a certified nurses’ assistant and attended the job fair in search of work to support herself while in college.

“I’ve been able to talk with some employers and I have about three or four positions that I’m interested in,” Reynolds said.

Throughout the job fair, many employers saw a constant flow of people coming to their table and stopping to talk, a sight that Carter said usually means great connections are being made between employers and potential employees.

“We have a private space for employers to conduct interviews if they wish and in the past we’ve seen students walk out of here hired,” Carter said. “Aroostook County always has had a great work ethic and I think the job fair gave people a unique chance to see the good opportunities we have for employment.”