By Dianne Anderson

Job seekers will put some extra spring in their step and brush off their dusty resumes ahead of the 50 big name employers ready to hire at next week’s job fair.

Hiring is getting better — albeit for some more than others. Unemployment continues running about double for African Americans than for whites.

On August 7, Rep. Pete Aguilar (D-San Bernardino) is hosting his fourth annual job fair, which in prior years has helped over 150 employees find work. The event will be held at the Frank Gonzales Community Center located at 670 Colton Avenue in Colton beginning at 9a.m.

Rep. Pete Aguilar said that one of his top priorities is helping inland empire residents find good-paying jobs right within the community.

“From Fortune 500 companies to small businesses, there’s a wide range of great opportunities for employment here in our region, and that’s part of why this event has been able to connect over one hundred job-seekers with work in previous years,” Aguilar said.

So far, a few confirmed employers on a long list to attend the job fair are Amazon, Apple One, Autozone Distribution Center, Caltrans – Department of Transportation, UPS, FedEx Ground, County of San Bernardino – Human Resources Department, San Bernardino County Probation Department, Kaiser Permanente, and Goodwill of Southern California.

Thomas McDaniel, who works career development for Goodwill Southern California in San Bernardino, said their recent successful hiring event held off-site in Fontana also brought out a full lineup of employers offering jobs across a variety of fields and sectors.

Goodwill participates in and hosts jobs fairs about twice a month to prepare the community for training and interviews, and provide interview clothing, if needed. They also partnered with the Loma Linda Veteran’s Administration in Moreno Valley with over 40 employers, with about half of the job seekers interviewed on the spot.

Job seekers are guided into top industries, and assessments help direct workers who may need additional help in deciding the right job for them, which may include manufacturing, machining, medical or billing assistant.

He said the goal is to get them empowered to achieve economic stability.

“Most of the training is done with a real light touch, a lot of vocational training,” he said. “We serve the homeless, the unemployed or underemployed, individuals with different barriers to employment.”

Anyone needing help can register and schedule an orientation to see what services are the best fit. For those interested in the basics, such as resume review, he said the process could take as little as 45 minutes.

It could be as simple as polishing up the resume, and getting the confidence to get out and beat the pavement. Others may get in the door to a job, but have problems with interviewing skills, he said.

“So, it’s probably a good thing to go through mock interviews prior to attending the interview, especially at fairs that allow you to interview on the spot,” he said.

The hardest to reach are connected to career pathways and workshops, including resume writing. They learn to conduct basic job searches, interview skills, financial literacy, and probably the most important, how to keep a job.

“We’re looking to do workplace activities over the course of three years, to work with and to place at least 1,500 of those individuals into employment,” he said. “We try to balance the skill levels to match as many job seekers as possible with the employers.”

For more information on programs and job fairs, see www.goodwillsocal.org