Readiness classes are available before job fair

Workforce-development classes that will prepare job seekers for a city job fair Feb. 21 are under way locally next week and month at two cooperating Carson City offices.

The job fair, set for 1-4 p.m. on that third Friday in February in the Community Center’s large gymnasium, is being put on by city Health and Human Services, Job Opportunities in Nevada (JOIN) and the Carson City Chamber of Commerce. City HHS and JOIN regularly provide the classes separately to get unemployed people ready to meet prospective employers.

“What we’re encouraging everyone to do,” said Lynda Gotelli, branch manager at Carson City’s non-profit JOIN office, “is come to these workshops next week.” She said the workshops run from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m. this Tuesday through Friday. Gotelli said employment presentation workshops amount to “a really neat program” that prepares jobless residents to look for work, dress appropriately, write resumes and interview well.

Gotelli said there is no charge for the help and explained she was out of work almost two years when she learned of the JOIN program. She went to the branch to participate, learned the branch manager position there was open and ended up with the job. It pays to always be prepared, she said. As she put it, “You never know.”

Lynn Ellis, workforce case manager at HHS, offers similar classes once weekly. JOIN offers the multi-day workshop program toward the end of each month, but Ellis offers her classes from 2-4 p.m. Wednesdays. She stressed that they teach job seekers about the most important facets of securing employment, from pre-job fair requirements to presentation and follow-up skills.

“This can be a life-changer for somebody,” Ellis said. She said anything job seekers say or do, even down to body language, may influence prospective decision-makers.

“Before you even open your mouth,” she added, “they’re sizing you up.”

Ellis, who has spearheaded details for each job fair, said she has 40 employers lined up for the February fair in the center’s gym at William and Roop streets. She is well on the way to her goal of 45-50, she said.

Three such job fairs last year, Ellis said, involved 123 employers and attracted 1,746 people in the market for work. At least 146 of them became employed via those jobs fairs and follow-up contact, she said.