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<\/a>Ingrid Baker, Director of Recruitment Resources for TVC<\/p><\/div>\n
Technology Ventures Corp. and New Mexico WIRED are planning a job fair March 15 to March 19, but it won\u2019t cost job seekers a penny in gas to get there. Appropriately for two organizations that focus on high tech and green tech industries, TVC and New Mexico WIRED are hosting this job fair in cyberspace.<\/p>\n
Participating companies host \u201cvirtual booths\u201d at the job fair web site, and they accept r\u00e9sum\u00e9s during the event.\u00a0Company recruiters will respond directly to each applicant and offer an assessment of the applicant\u2019s skills in relation to the desired job.<\/p>\n
Applicants can apply for jobs without having to show up and stand in line for a limited number of openings, and this saves time for applicants and recruiters, organizers say.\u00a0The virtual mode also helps company recruiters narrow the applicant field quickly and efficiently.<\/p>\n
What kinds of jobs<\/strong><\/p>\n The fair is limited to high tech and green tech companies in New Mexico.\u00a0Organizers want to help these industries grow because the jobs they offer provide opportunities for professional growth and higher-than-average pay. Not all the available jobs are technical; many companies need sales\u00a0and marketing support\u00a0as well as administrative staff.<\/p>\n A niche job fair calls attention to the groups working in high tech and green tech ventures and focuses the job seeker pool \u2014 an advantage for small, focused organizations that need to make the most of recruiting efforts.<\/p>\n Twelve companies with about 100 open jobs participated in the first fair last fall, and nearly 100 job seekers applied online.\u00a0 About a third of those applicants landed follow-up interviews.<\/p>\n Alex Padilla of APJet attended that first virtual job fair. At the time, APJet was looking for engineers and technicians to help the company begin production of fabrics treated with the company\u2019s breakthrough stain and water-repellant technique.<\/p>\n The three physicists who started APJet in 2003 had found a commercial use for a technology developed at Los Alamos National Laboratory. Using plasma, or ionized gas, in combination with other chemicals, they discovered that the character of fabric could be altered to repel moisture. Better yet, their technique didn\u2019t require bathing fabric in environmentally harmful chemicals and polluting large quantities of water. APJet is working with a company in South Carolina to produce fabrics using its technology.<\/p>\n \u201cFor us, a small company with limited resources, the virtual job fair is a valuable tool,\u201d said Padilla, director of business development for the Santa Fe-based venture. \u201cI don\u2019t have a full day to do r\u00e9sum\u00e9-gathering.\u201d<\/p>\n While it\u2019s true that virtual job fairs deprive both employer and potential employee of fact-to-face contact, Padilla said, in-person meetings can be arranged for candidates whose professional skills clear the first hurdle.\u00a0 In all, he said, it\u2019s more efficient than a traditional job fair.<\/p>\n For more information, visit www.nmvirtualjobfair.com<\/strong><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n Learn more about Technology Ventures Corporation<\/strong><\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n Article 127<\/p>\n Download 127_Virtual Job Fair Seeks High Tech Green Tech Workers PDF<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" High tech and green tech companies are using the internet to screen candidates to fill open job positions. These so-called virtual job fairs are gaining in popularity among both job seekers and employers. Continue reading