Career Fair Spotlights Job and Educational Opportunities

GREENVILLE—The 2nd Annual Better Skills, Better Jobs Career Fair took place at the Greenville Convention Center Sept. 29, giving adult jobseekers and Pitt County high school students a chance to explore area employment and educational opportunities.

The fair, which is eastern North Carolina’s largest, helped more than 750 individuals build connections with the businesses and industries that need them and the community partners ready to prepare them for the workplace.

“There are thousands of adults in Pitt County who have attended college but didn’t finish a program of study to earn an academic credential,” said Dr. Johnny Smith, Pitt Community College vice president of Strategic Initiatives and Community Engagement. “Better skills mean better jobs, so we want them to complete the training they started to improve their employment prospects and find jobs that offer sustainable wages.”

Smith said more than 300 Pitt County juniors and seniors attended the fair’s morning session to learn about local career options and programs that let them begin working toward a college degree while in high school, such as Career & College Promise and the PCC-Pitt County Schools Technical Academy. Nearly 450 jobseekers came out for the afternoon session, he said, adding that many of them were able to interview with local employers during the event.

“Some of our attendees were offered jobs during the career fair and others found out how they could retool or retrain to advance in their current jobs or change careers entirely,” Smith said. “In just two years’ time, the Better Skills, Better Jobs Career Fair has become an important annual event to increase awareness of local career and educational opportunities and foster engagement between employers and prospective workers.”

Smith said nearly 1,000 people took part in this year’s career fair. In addition to PCC, he said the event was sponsored by John M. Belk Endowment, Greenville ENC Alliance, Pitt County Economic Development, East Carolina University’s Office of Continuing and Professional Education, Inner Banks Media, and Koinonia Community Solutions.

10/10/2022