Career Fair draws all ages, displaced workers

Vivian Reddick of Cape Girar-deau arrived at the sixth annual Southeast Missourian Career Fair on Thursday with an open mind.

Her administrative assistant job in Procter & Gamble's finance and accounting department will end in February, she said.

Reddick visited many of the nearly three dozen companies and government agencies.

Natalie Leible, 19, of Chaffee, Mo., lingered at Southeast Missouri Hospital's booth, attracted by the promise of on-the-job training and tuition assistance. She hopes to be a nurse someday.

David Moss, human resources officer with Missouri's Department of Corrections, saw a constant stream of people. He said the department's openings range from corrections to maintenance, cooking and office tasks. Starting pay for corrections officers is $26,000, he said. The hiring process includes a background check and physical testing.

Herman McElmurry, 53, of Cape Girardeau, gave up vying for that job after seeing a display of makeshift weapons confiscated from inmates.

"I don't have time to be wrasslin' with these folks. I'd just as soon shoot them," he joked Thursday, standing between the Osage Centre booths. He's now looking for part-time work "that's not too physically demanding."

Vivian Reddick spoke with Missouri State Highway Patrol recruiters during the Southeast Missourian Career Fair on Thursday at the Osage Community Centre. Reddick's current position will end in February, and she plans to have a job lined up by then. (Kit Doyle)

Reddick, on the other hand, would love a corrections department office position.

"I like working with numbers, with spreadsheets," she said. "If you work with numbers, you're an investigator."

She said, at 54, her age should be considered an asset to a potential employer.

"I do have the experience. I'm not looking to climb the corporate ladder. I'm not likely to jump up and move away," she said.

Marilyn Corse of Perryville, Mo., learned, in 18 years as Solar Communications' human resource manager, most employees average three years at a job.

Corse wasn't at the fair to recruit. She's been job hunting since Solar's Perryville location closed in July.

She exchanged job-hunting tales with former co-worker David Moore of Jackson while at the fair.

"If Solar had stayed open, I'd have worked there till I was 75," said Moore, 61 and a Vietnam War veteran.

Last year's Career Fair drew 2,500 job seekers, many hoping to snag brand-new positions with NARS and Signature Packaging and Paper. This year, nearly 700 attended and cleared several booths of their promotional brochures and job applications.

"Employers said they had a lot of good quality applicants this time," said Robin Strop, the Southeast Missourian's classified ad manager and career fair coordinator.

pmcnichol@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 127