BRUNSWICK — Nearly 70 area employers will be trying to fill job openings at a March 21 hiring fair in Cooks Corner.

The fair will take place 10 a.m.-2 p.m. at the Cooks Corner Mall on Bath Road. Applicants looking for a job, or a change of career ,will have the opportunity to connect face-to-face with employers.

It is co-sponsored by the Maine Department of Labor, the Southern Midcoast Career Center, Southern Midcoast Maine Chamber, Coastal Counties Workforce, and Midcoast-Parkview Health.

Employers such as Mid Coast-Parkview Health, Bowdoin College, Catholic Charities, Sweetser, Wal-Mart and more will be present, hiring for full-time and seasonal jobs.

“It’s not just ice cream stands,” Department of Labor spokeswoman Julie Rabinowitz said by phone Monday. “Although Gelato Fiasco will be there.”

A full list of attending employers is available at the CareerCenters website at mainecareercenter.gov/locations/jobfair.shtml?id=729690.

Attendees are advised to bring an updated copy of their resume, although a Career Center booth will be on site to offer advice on crafting and refining a resume, too.

Though the DOL sponsors employment fairs annually in the spring, more have been scheduled in southern Maine to help connect workers to jobs in what Rabinowitz called a “tight” labor market.

“This is an employee’s market,” Rabinowitz said, noting Cumberland County’s 2.8 percent January unemployment rate, which was announced Monday.

Rabinowitz attributed the challenge in finding workers to a labor mismatch, not a shortage.

Maine is aging, and with fewer young workers to take on jobs that draw on their skills and abilities, certain jobs go unfilled.

“Hiring is happening all over the state, but what we’re really encouraging employers to think about is how they hire, and to think outside the box,” she said.

She encouraged workers who will attend the fair to keep an open mind.

“Do the research, don’t shut yourself off to certain opportunities,” Rabinowitz said.

Callie Ferguson can be reached at 781-3661, ext. 100, or cferguson@theforecaster.net. Follow Callie on Twitter: @calliecferguson.

The Maine Department of Labor, Southern Midcoast CareerCenter, and the Southern Midcoast Maine Chamber of Commerce will host a hiring fair with nearly 70 Brunswick-area employers Tuesday, March 21.

Edited 3/16: The fair location.

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