(April 3, 2015) Dozens of local businesses will crowd into the Ocean City convention center on 40th Street Saturday between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. to find the perfect candidate for the estimated 12,000 jobs, temporary and professional, required to make Ocean City work during the summer.
“We are pretty much full,” of exhibitors, Ocean City Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Melanie Pursel said. “Right now we’re focused on bringing in job seekers.”
There is no cost to attend the event as someone looking for work.
Those seekers will be competing for a spot on someone’s roster as well as with each other, so Pursel advises dressing for the part.
“Even if it is just a summer job you should dress nice, be as professional as possible and bring a resume and a pen,” she advised.
There will also be employment seminars and training available, such as the alcohol training required by the state for hospitality employees. Additionally, Resume Doctors will be on hand to polish up curriculum vitae or to help those new to the workforce formulate a resume in the first place.
Those seeking long-term employment can register with the Maryland Workforce Exchange, so if the perfect job doesn’t materialize Saturday, the agency can get back with you when it does.
When the Job Fair debuted in 1985 the ideas were fairly simple: hiring people to fully staff restaurants, bars and the hotels that dominated the scene at that time. But in the past 30 years the game has changed.
A small yet significant portion of the jobs are professional, attendance has grown tenfold from the first year’s 400-600 attendees, organizers said and the fair has added educational and training services to the menu.
“The neat thing about this event in the eight years I’ve been here I’ve seen it evolve from just the summer jobs into the go-to place for employers for not just seasonal, but year-round employment as well,” Pursel said.
The chamber, in conjunction with Ocean City, sponsors the event.
“We have professional people come in with suits and briefcases and certainly the college kids as well,” Pursel said. “We try to provide a real diverse cross section of the types of jobs Ocean City has to offer.”
There are, for instance, opportunities for hotel managers or people who want to take more responsibility than the frontline workers, Pursel said.
Just because a certain place is hiring doesn’t mean it’s first-come, first serve.
“This is also an opportunity for the college kids who come down to get in face-to-face and get these jobs before the J-1 summer travel students come in because we need everyone. We need the J-1 students to fully staff Ocean City during the summertime, there really is plenty to go around,” Pursel said.
College and university students enrolled in accredited, post-secondary institutions meeting certain criteria can apply to work in the United States on a temporary J-1 visa. Ocean City employs a great deal of students from foreign nations during the summer.
The chamber will also be distributing their guide, The Source, full of useful information for the summer crowd, as well as housing information, a seasonal housing list and realtor contact information.
For more information, call the Greater Ocean City Chamber of Commerce at 410-213-0552 or visit www.oceancity.org.
