Career fair offers help, hope to unemployed

WRAL and the Capital Area Workforce Development Board host a career fair this week in Raleigh.

Posted 10:15 p.m. Oct 2, 2012 — Updated 11:08 p.m. Oct 2, 2012

RALEIGH, N.C. — With unemployment in the Triangle still hovering around 8 percent four years after the economy collapsed, it isn't easy to find a job.

WRAL and the Capital Area Workforce Development Board want to help with a career fair this week in Raleigh.

The event happens Thursday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the North Carolina State University McKimmon Center, 1101 Gorman St., in Raleigh.

At last year’s career fair, hundreds of people lined up two hours before the doors opened. Many had similar stories of being let go, laid off and struggling to find work.

Organizer Jane Sterner said the picture seems to be a little brighter this year.

“We are seeing a slight increase in the number of jobs being posted,” she said. “There's going to be over 1,900 jobs at this particular event.”

Stener said there will also be a good variety of job openings at the expo - from computer programmers to cashiers.

If you're coming, bring resumes and dress professionally, she said. Participants can practice job-hunting skills at mock interviews, get advice about improving their resume and learn how to use social media to help land a job.

Sterner says those are important skills to learn in your job search. But the most important skill of all is learning to hang in there.

“There's always hope,” she said. “A positive attitude is the biggest thing.”

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