PUD to take part in job fair

COLUMBIA BASIN - The Grant County Public Utilities District is one of many area employers in the "The Future Is Here" Job and Career Fair next week.

District Senior Human Resources Professional Linda Haensel explained the PUD is a partner and member of the group putting on the Jan. 31 event, the operations task force.

The district will have a career booth and numerous employees on hand to speak about the district's job opportunities at the fair, Haensel said.

"Our job opportunities at the PUD are much broader sometimes than what the public may see on a daily basis and we want to make sure the students are aware and see all of our different career possibilities," she said.

Those positions include an archaeologist, employees in the district's natural resources department who deal with salmon preservation or such "behind the scenes" positions in accounting and strategic planning, she added.

"Those are some of the jobs maybe people aren't aware of or don't typically think of when they think of the PUD," she said.

Business Services WorkSource Central Basin Employment Security Department representative Dustan Knauss, one of the coordinators of the event, said a district employee who is a recent Moses Lake High School graduate will be one of the PUD employees participating on an employer panel to show students the path he's taken.

"Now I think he's a junior engineer or something," Knauss said.

The PUD has a large number of positions opening up in the next five years as employees retire, he said.

"They've got positions from linemen, electricians and in the office of administration," he said. "So that is a big deal."

Primarily the large employers in the area like REC Silicon and other industry are participating in the event, Knauss said, as are hospitals and clinics.

Agencies like WorkSource and Big Bend Community College are participating to show students and parents they are a viable tool to access the employers.

Haensel noted participation in local career fairs is not anything new for the PUD, but the main reasons to participate in "The Future Is Here" event include the district's status as one of the largest employers in Grant County.

"As a large employer, we have a need to hire qualified people, just like any other employer," she said. "The unfortunate situation most employers in this area are facing at this time and why, partly, the operations task force is doing this type of career fair, is the jobs we have available right now require skills the majority of our residents don't currently possess."

Haensel noted she isn't necessarily talking about jobs requiring four-year college degrees, although it's a struggle for many local businesses to fill engineering positions.

"Businesses are seeing applicants without basic math, verbal and skills such as work ethic, punctuality, attendance and professionalism, and those are really important for success in any career," she said. "We want to make sure students prepare a solid foundation of those basic skills to build upon."

Haensel said educating those people who choose to attend and supporting the other businesses making presentations is important to the district as a public power utility.

"Preparing our residents and hopefully our potential future work force we feel is a win-win for the community and the PUD," she said.

Knauss believes the event will help spread the word to the residents.

"I'm not sure the public is aware of the type of work available in our community," he said. "I just don't think the majority of people realize the amount of work available and the living wages that are available, and the projected growth of 15,000 additional jobs in five years."

At traditional career fairs, an employer is often trying to hire students with a certain level of education and an idea of current aspirations into a current open vacancy while competing with other area businesses, Haensel said.

"We see this event as an opportunity for all the businesses to work together rather than as competitors," she said. "We're going to be talking to students before most have made concrete decisions on their future careers. Our hope would be to give these students insight into taking more of an active role in how their future will look by linking in their mind education and skill-building to actual jobs that are out there."

If any student comes away from any participating business with information they apply to becoming better prepared to take on a job role, the PUD would call it a success, she said.

"Ultimately it would be our hope sometime in the future a student or a resident who attended the career fair would come to work at the PUD," she said.

Hilde Carlsen, PUD human resources manager, said the district tries to go to the local market to find employees to fill its critical position.

"We're hoping to raise the interest of the local youth, to say we would like to give them some of these energy-focused educational opportunities," she said. "Some of them may have to go away, but potentially they're going to come back and live in our area. That's been a successful recruitment tool for us."

Knauss said 43 employers are participating, of a desired total of 50, in the job and career fair.

"It's a neat, neat deal," he said. "The response is good. I think employers are looking forward to it, I think they understand the philosophy."

Knauss pointed to "incredible" work being done by the high school, and said he appreciates the contributions being made by the community.

"It's really probably one of the best parts of this: The community is involved, and it's kind of exciting," he said.

The fair will take place Thursday, January 31, from 3 to 7 p.m. at the Moses Lake High School commons.