Fall Job Fair a Huge Success

09/16/2009

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About 250 people waited for the Washington County Fair Park Ziegler Building doors to open
for a fall job fair and 450 filed in during the first 30 minutes.

With only 34 booths awaiting them Tuesday — most of them employers — education opportunities started looking appealing to some of the job seekers.

Ted Kinnard of Trenton, employed as a metal fabricator, eyed the surgical technician opportunities at High-Tech Institute, Brookfield. “I like that it’s flexible hours,” he said.

Teri Storch, representing High-Tech, said that the accelerated, hands-on training plus financial assistance drew about 20 potential students. Medical assistant and massage therapist were among the more appealing health care fields. “They now have the time,” said Storch. “And this is the field.”

Make no mistake. Many at the Ozaukee-Washington Workforce Development fair were thinking about jobs first before going back to school. Michele Ripp of Hartford fit that mold. She would like to find something in graphic design or marketing, something that companies are too quick to cut, she said. It happened to her at Herbsmith in Hartland, which markets Chinese herbs for horses and dogs. Now she’s free-lancing for four companies, mostly new enterprises. Next, she plans to return to school for a master’s in graphic design. “I’m going to build on my education.”
More out-of-work or underemployed job seekers in today’s economy are finding that the way to go.
Susan Slonac, director of corporate relations for Cardinal Stritch University, said, “I’ve been to a lot of these events, and they’re here for either a job or a career. If they’re here for a career, they’re realizing they need to update skills.”

Many see business school as a practical alternative, particularly increasingly olderthan-usual nontraditional students, she said.

Actually, some in business see school as an alternative, teaching school, that is.
Pam Cohen of the Cooperative Educational Service Agency said that people with bachelor’s degrees can get teaching certification at CESA. “People are faced with the reality of being laid off,” she said. “And they have realworld knowledge.”

Sara Kadow of West Bend, who already has a master’s, would consider teaching — adults — while she continues to do contract work in marketing, Web development and graphic design.
Kadow previously worked for Telsmith, a rock-crusher manufacturer in Mequon, and is now self-insured. “Teaching on the side for money would be fine for me,” she said at the Concordia University booth. Angie Belz, representing Concordia, was interested in Kadow’s skills as an instructor, although she was mostly drawing interest from those seeking retraining in health and business.

“A lot of students are here because they’ve been laid off or they’re afraid of being laid off,” said Belz.

As a prescription to that end, Concordia’s Pharmacy School gets a lot of interest, she said. It’s the only one in the state besides the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s.

Sponsors who helped make the event possible: Employment Times, Moraine Park Technical College, Washington County Economic Development, Milwaukeejobs.com.

By DAN MUCKELBAUER
Daily News Staff