Job fair draws 2,000

Around 2,000 jobseekers gathered Thursday afternoon in the MCM Grandé FunDome for what was called the biggest job fair in West Texas.

From 9 a.m. and 4 p.m., the Media Concepts Incorporated job fair featured 25 different companies, ranging from restaurants to convenience stores and oil companies.

“This gives people the chance to meet face-to-face with employers and gives them a better chance of getting in the door,” Business Development Manager Gloria Ybarra said.

The opportunity to “get in the door” appealed to Rene Renteria, a currently unemployed hazardous-material worker from El Paso.

“You can’t really get online for oilfield jobs, so I thought I’d come here to give it a shot,” he said.

He said he’d filled out an application or two throughout the day for hazardous-material-related positions with oil companies.

“There are other hazardous material jobs in El Paso, but none pay as well as they do here,” he said.

Wages for entry-level oilfield positions pay anywhere between $15 to $20 an hour, according to Employment Recruiter Erica Quinones of Key Energy Services.

“We’ve gotten around 50 applications and 15 resumes,” she said. “We’re continuously looking for employees — our turnover rate is high as well.”

Employers said they’ve received a mixture of applicants: from students and unemployed people to veterans and even some retirees.

Debbie Brock, who’s currently unemployed, taught biology in Andrews for two years before moving to Odessa in August.

“”It makes a big difference to be able to meet employers here,” she said. “But I think competition here is high and people come from other areas to work in our oilfield-related jobs.”

Brock said she wanted to use her biology degree to work in an oil lab.

Stripes, the convenience store chain that opened a new location at 5200 JBS Parkway on Jan. 19, was also looking employees to support its rate of expansion.

Human Resources Representative Dave MacIlroy said Stripes would be looking to open nine stores across West Texas within the next 18 months.

“We deliver a quality product, and there’s a demand for that,” he said. “Our stores employ anywhere from 15 to 30 or 35 employees.”

MacIlroy said he’d received around 15 applications throughout the day for store stockers, food service associates, sales associates and managers.

“I met some people who came to me during their lunch breaks wearing uniforms from where they work now,” he said.

Ybarra said she got good feedback from those in attendance.

“People told me they’ve gotten a lot of cards and made good contacts and feel like they’ve reached a good starting point,” she said.

@OAcrime