Selling Themselves : ‘Reverse’ Job Fair Gives Firms Chance to Shop for Unemployed Workers

It was hard to tell who was interviewing whom Thursday at the First “Reverse” Job Fair.

Unlike most job fairs, which are conducted by employers, Thursday’s fair at the Brea Civic and Cultural Center was sponsored by unemployed professionals. The mostly middle-aged, white-collar applicants sat patiently behind tables that listed their specialties, their resumes close at hand.

Several professional job clubs from Los Angeles, San Bernardino and Orange counties and the state Employment Development Department sponsored the event.

“We’ve had job fairs before. But this is the first time we’ve tried the reverse concept, where the potential employee waits and the potential employer comes and shops,” said Stella Sandovall, deputy director of special services at the state Employment Development Department in Anaheim.

Sandovall said she was pleased with the estimated 200 employers who turned out. They included such major companies as General Dynamics, Hughes Aircraft Co., Lockheed Corp. and Hyundai Motor America.

“It’s the first of its kind,” Sandovall said of the reverse job fair. “But the times demand a program like this.” She said there is no charge to the potential employers or the nearly 500 applicants at the fair.

Applicants ranged from engineers to computer science technicians. It has been estimated that the unemployment rate in Orange County for middle managers in such occupations is about 12%; the overall county unemployment rate is less than 4%.

One employer representative, Tim Crumbaker of the Pomona office of New York Life Insurance Co., said he liked the concept of a reverse job fair.

“I think this is a better system because the employer can look at each resume, then he can decide who he wants to talk to.”

Crumbaker said he and two other representatives from New York Life interviewed 15 to 18 people for sales positions. “These are some of the sharpest individuals I’ve seen in a long time,” he said. “I think we may end up hiring two or three.”

A representative of Volt Technical Services in Orange said he was surprised by the caliber of applicants and said he picked up about 100 resumes to review.

“It is a lot larger than I thought it would be,” Jeff Read said. “I thought it would be a flaky little get-together, but it turned out to be a pretty professional setup.”

Nathan Norm, a 49-year-old data processor who recently became a member of Professional Resources Network of Hollywood, said he had been interviewed by three companies.

“This event has been very helpful to me,” Norm said. “I was interviewed by an aerospace company out of the San Fernando Valley, a consulting firm out of Cerritos and another small business.”

Jim Grams of the state employment agency said the large turnout of employers Thursday probably will inspire more reverse job fairs.

“If we don’t, we’re crazy.”