TOWSON, Md. — There’s an old saying: “Stay ready, so you don’t have to get ready.”
Hundreds of federal employees in our area have been laid off recently, and it’s causing a ripple effect in our local area.
And with an uncertain job market, this pop-up career fair by Baltimore County was exactly what some people needed.
“Anxiety is worrying about the future without a plan,” says career fair attendee Jasper Stanford. “So, we wanna make a plan and the best way you can do that is to move forward.”
Jasper Stanford is a federal employee and a Navy veteran. While he still has a job, he’s not waiting. He’s getting his feelers out there now.
“It’s scary, you know, because of the unknown,” he says. “Like, well, are the jobs that I’m looking at, are they going to be secure?”
He isn’t alone. These rooms at the StarTUp in Towson are packed with job seekers.
“The response has been awesome,” says Scott Ebbert, assistant fire chief, Baltimore County Fire Department. “I arrived here at the Towson StarTUp at 10:00 sharp. There was a line waiting to get in the door, and it’s been steady ever since.”
Fifteen departments were offering jobs ranging from parks and recs, to accounting, I.T., 911 operators, and other first responders.
“We’ve seen a wide range of candidates today,” Ebbert says. “Anywhere from candidates that have not yet graduated from high school to the older workforce that’s looking for a career change, looking to do something different.”
Job seekers like Jade Thompson went from room to room doing interviews and learning more about what the county has to offer.
“I got a pretty good response,” Thompson says. “People were pretty interested. It seems like they’re really interested in hiring people and filling the positions as quickly as possible.”
The county has a list of resources for federal employees, contractors, and nonprofits impacted by the recent job cuts.
