Article Contributed on: 3/17/2009 5:30:56 PM
A hiring event at Jefferson County Workforce Center in Golden had been open an hour. People carried suitcases and backpacks and were ready to produce their resumes in a flash.
The office seating area was filled, while the overflow sat in chairs in the lobby.
Some sat outside on pillars.
The four-hour hiring event March 17 drew a crowd of 80 people according to
Ruth Retherford, who manned the sign-up table. She said the number of positions open was 20.
Larry Brown, business services consultant with the Workforce Center helped arrange the event with Aerotek, an international staffing company. The jobs were for beer production operators at Coors.
The job description called for an ability to drive a forklift with training, knowledge of keyboarding, e-mail and Windows software and an ability to "bend, push, pull and lift up to 50 pounds continuously during a shift." Benefits offered included medical, dental and vision.
A steady flow of job seekers, mostly men, approached the sign-up list in the lobby, then waited.
As Retherford informed them the wait could be up to 45 minutes before their interview, most people nodded and said, "OK," as if that was standard protocol.
Some folks took refuge in the workforce's computer room, where they continued the job search online.
Others said they would run an errand.
But most people stayed put.
David Thorn and his brother
Jim waited outside. David said, "It's getting a good crowd."
Jim used to own his own hardwood flooring company. He said he sold it when the economy got rough.
"When people are worried about losing their homes, they aren't thinking about hardwood flooring."
Jim said he thought some jobs were open if benefits or insurance wasn't an issue.
David said, "I go out every day. I go to the job sites and it's been two weeks and I haven't been sent out on a job. They're overloaded. It's a daily search for work."
Brown, who has worked at Jeffco for more than 20 years, said he arranges the fairs in cooperation with employers who are looking to hire. Jeffco Workforce Center is more than a hiring site. According to their literature, it works with employers in an effort to help them prosper. The Business Services Team offers business solution services to employers, which often are free.
"We'll organize a hiring event as often as they (an employer) ask and customize it to attract people with the qualifications they are looking for," said Brown.
Brown said the workforce center works with most Front Range chambers of commerce: Arvada, Lakewood, Golden, Evergreen, Southwest Metro and the West Chamber Serving Jefferson County. He said Aerotek usually holds two hiring events a year at the workforce center.
Retherford added, "We do everything to help people find jobs, from computers to career planning, networking and how to write a resume."
Even though they had been waiting at least 40 minutes, the Thorn brothers were getting closer. They moved inside to the big chairs in the lobby to listen for their names to be called.
up next
Future hiring events at Jeffco Workforce Center, 3500 Illinois St., Golden are planned for Mar. 24 job fair for the Warranty Group.
Mar. 31 job fair for Fitzgeralds Casino
May 12 at Jeffco Fairgrounds Casino job fair