BOISE, Idaho — Since the pandemic hit, Zoom and video chat has become the new normal.
But connecting with someone virtually can be kind of awkward, especially when you are trying to land a new job.
The Idaho Department of Labor’s Caldwell office got creative and hosted the first ever drive-thru job fair on Tuesday.
“Of course, with what's going on now we had to be innovative and just do something different, try something different and get them in front of the employers,” said Elizabeth Anzaldua, Senior Workforce Consultant for the Idaho Department of Labor. “The job seekers will stay in their car and then they just drive around the lot and they follow the arrows and they stop at each employer. So, the employers come to the car and then they provide them with information and hand them details for their job openings.”
Five employers were at Tuesday’s job fair including St. Luke’s, Amazon, Select Staffing, Sorrento Lactalis and ZoRoCo Packaging. The businesses combined have more than 1,000 job openings to fill in positions such as housekeepers, cashiers, IT support, customer service, production operators, delivery drivers and more.
“We want to encourage everyone to come and meet with the employers and just chat with them and see what kind of jobs they have available for them,” Anzaldua said.
All employers and job seekers were required to wear masks and social distance.
If you missed Tuesday’s hiring event, Anzaldua says not to worry.
The drive-thru job fair was so successful the department will be hosting another one soon, but does not have an exact date yet.
“It will probably be focused on employers that have job openings to work from home,” Anzaldua said.
Gretchen Parsons is an anchor, reporter and producer at KTVB since 2016. You can follow her on Instagram @gretchenparsonsKTVB or @gretchenKTVB on Twitter.