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WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. Alison Beaver attended the job fair Thursday at the White Plains Public Library because her current employer, Disney Publishing Worldwide, is closing its White Plains corporate office and moving to Glendale, Calif.
Beaver, of Danbury, Conn., said she just began her job search, and has been using online search engines like Indeed. Disney Publishing is to close its White Plains office in September. Beaver said she has been an administrative assistant there for five years.
"I'm looking for an administrative position, and there really isn't anything," Beaver said of Thursday's state-sponsored job fair.
The fair, which featured 26 employers, is the first of 11 such job fairs that are part of National Job Fair Month. Statewide, the fairs run by the state Department of Labor will bring together 375 employers that have about 10,000 open positions.
Like Beaver, Maegan Wilson of Putnam Valley is searching for a job for the first time in nearly five years, after her previous employer, Stony Lodge Hospital in Ossining, closed in May. She said the process has been intimidating.
"It's hard to find a job, and this is helpful. I've emailed and faxed my resume to over 30 jobs and heard nothing back," the Peekskill native said. "I haven't had to do this in almost five years."
Wilson was pleased with the demeanor of the recruiters on hand for the various employers, including those for YAI Network, a health and human services agency serving those with intellectual and developmental disabilities and their families.
While Wilson attended the event because of YAI's presence, Migdalia Torres of Yonkers happened to find the agency's openings of interest and left her resume. However, by the time she got to the table around 2 p.m. YAI was already out of application forms. Torres said she would still apply online, and attend YAI's job session June 12.
Rose Glick, a career counselor at The College of Westchester, came to the job fair to network with job recruiters, two of whom were also at a part-time job fair Wednesday on the White Plains college's campus. One of them, a recruiter for Lord & Taylor, told her his company was considering for summer positions four of the 80 students who attended the college job fair, she said.
Marc Rosbury of Mount Vernon said he had been looking for a job on and off for three years.
"Right now, I'll take anything," said Rosbury, 48. "I have 25 years of experience in construction, and right now I'll take a job stocking shelves. It's frustrating, but you have to keep on plugging."
Rosbury said he is overqualified for most jobs he applies for, and employers are more willing to hire younger people with half the experience because they can pay them less.
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