Portland Community College | Portland, Oregon

Job Fair Works For This Employer

Photos and story by James Hill

We all know that the Workforce Network Job Fair helps people find work. But it also helps businesses like the Oregon Transfer Company find the right employees to fill critical positions.

Victoria Masengale, human resources administrator for the company, was contacted last year by Eddie Lincoln, business services coordinator in workforce development, to participate. Her company did and she was impressed by the size and scope of the job fair. She says the company will participate again because of the quality of applicants and how well it is organized.

“I didn’t know what to expect,” said Masengale. “They had a huge crowd and we found some very good candidates. We had a range of positions open, from entry-level to management level. I was quite impressed with the wide range of skills people had.”

Portland Community College’s Workforce Network will host its Eighth Annual Workforce Network Job Fair from 10am to 3pm on Thursday Sept. 14 at the Portland Metro Workforce Training Center. The job fair is a premier job-search event that attracts more than 850 job-seekers every year. The event, free and open to the public, showcases opportunities with dozens of employers like Nike, Clackamas County, Legacy Health System, First Independent Bank, and Oregon Transfer Company.

Masengale’s Oregon Transfer Company is a supplier of warehousing, transportation and logistics services in the Northwest and Midwest. The company has nearly 900,000 square feet of food grade warehouse space, operating trucking, distribution, storage for national grocery product, alcoholic beverages, confectionery and general merchandise.

Masengale deals with plenty of candidates when she hosts a table at job fairs. So what are tips for job seekers to impress her?

“We look for people willing to talk about what they will bring to the position,” Masengale said. “They should tell me what kind of jobs they are seeking. Part of it is that we look for people with transferable skills so we can match them with positions that will fulfill their potential. Also, if they have a blemish on their record — like a criminal record — we’d like them to be up front about it. We do drug and background checks as well as work references.”

After a winning experience last year, Masengale and her team will be back at the Workforce Network Job Fair at PCC this year searching for more future Oregon Transfer Company employees.

“We thought it was very successful and we want to remain part of the event this year to help the community as well as benefit us,” she said.

For more information on the job fair, call 503-943-2000.