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| Buddy Johnson (left), employment manager, and Sarah Teesateski, organization and employee development coordinator, represented the Eastern Bands of Cherokee Indians last month at SCC’s Job Fair. |
As eager as job-seekers may have been to find a job during Southwestern Community College’s Job Fair, employers like Buddy Johnson of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians were every bit as passionate about finding some quality candidates to fill open positions.
Currently the employment manager for EBCI, Johnson spoke to dozens of prospective employees during the March 26 event – listening to their backgrounds and encouraging them to apply for any vacancies he’d brought that matched their education and abilities.
“With all of our recent tribal reorganization lately, we have wide-open opportunities,” said Johnson, himself a 1979 graduate of SCC’s Business Administration program. “We just don’t have enough people from within to fill them all, and it’s encouraged us to explore new avenues.
We have so much demand for employment right now that we’re trying to uncover new prospects and look behind every rock.
“Cherokee has a lot to offer: great employment opportunities and benefits packages, paid holidays and more,” Johnson said.
A record number of 74 employers participated in the Job Fair, and more than 200 students and area residents took advantage of the opportunity to seek employment.
One SCC student who visited Johnson’s booth, Rhonda Ray of Franklin, said she didn’t initially know the EBCI would have openings in her field. She’s set to graduate with an associate degree in Health Information Technology in May.
She wound up talking to Johnson for more than five minutes and plans to apply for positions they discussed.
“Including this one, I counted eight employers here in the medical field,” Ray said. “It is absolutely important to come to this event. The value is there. It’s more informal than a sit-down interview, and it gives you a chance to learn a little more about each employer – and for them to learn a little about you.”
Three students in SCC’s culinary arts program found jobs at the event.
“Any culinary student who wanted a job found one at the Job Fair,” said Ceretta Davis, SCC’s culinary arts program coordinator.
That’s exactly what Job Fair coordinator Patty Kirkley envisions for the event each year.
“Our goal is to help as many of our students, alumni and community residents get leads on jobs that will be mutually beneficial to them and employers,” said Kirkley, career counselor at SCC. “Every year, we hear about some participants being hired as a direct result of this event. Stories like those are what the Job Fair is all about.”
For more information about SCC and its programs visit www.southwesterncc.edu or call828.339.4394.
