honoluluadvertiser.com

Sponsored by:

Comment, blog & share photos

Log in | Become a member
The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Wednesday, May 22, 2002

90 employers seeking recruits at job fair today

By Susan Hooper
Advertiser Staff Writer

Job-seekers looking for work may find it today at the Blaisdell Center.

Help wanted

• Today, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

• Blaisdell Center's exhibition hall

• Cost is $2, which covers admission and all workshops and other activities. For students with valid identification, admission is $1.

WorkForce 2002, billed as Hawai'i's largest job fair, is expected to feature 90 employers, down only five employers from last year, according to Beth Busch, vice president/western region for Success Advertising, one of the event's sponsors.

Employers and workers have been suffering since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, with businesses looking at drastic losses in revenues and more than 50,000 workers filing for unemployment.

Analysts have said many industries, including tourism — the state's key private employer — have yet to recover.

But Busch said the response to the job fair from employers runs contrary to those gloomy reports.

"You read a lot about how weak the economy is and how hard-hit everybody has been, and this is not bearing that out," she said. "This is showing a turnaround."

Last year about 4,000 job-hunters came to the fair; Busch said she expects at least that many today.

Employers scheduled for the job fair include tourism companies such as Aston Hotels & Resorts, Roberts Hawaii Tours and Enterprise Rent-a-Car; retailers such as Crazy Shirts, Macy's, City Mill and the Disney Stores; government agencies such as the FBI and the U.S. Border Patrol; and colleges such as Hawai'i Pacific University and University of Phoenix.

Banks, healthcare companies, staffing agencies and two local police departments are among the many other types of employers who have signed up to be on hand for the fair, Busch said.

Workshops will be held throughout the day on such topics as resume writing, interviewing and finding jobs on the Internet, Busch said.

Other sponsors of the event include Altres Staffing, Hawai'i Business College and Oahu WorkLink, a city-state coalition whose mission is to help workers find jobs.