Operation A.B.L.E. Sets Mature Worker Job Fair for March 9

Boston, MA – February 16, 2010 – Operation A.B.L.E., a non-profit provider of job training and employment services for job seekers age 45 and older, will host a Mature Worker Job Fair on Tuesday, March 9, at the Radisson Hotel Boston. Slated to run from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the Radisson’s 6th floor Arlington Room, the event will feature a Healthcare Corner where job seekers with healthcare-related skills and backgrounds can speak with employers interested in meeting them, along with informational breakout sessions and help stations staffed by local HR professionals.

Participating employers to date include Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, the Boston Consortium for Higher Education, Caritas Healthcare, Children’s Hospital, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, John Hancock, Marshalls/TJ Maxx, Partners Healthcare, State Street Corporation, and Tufts Health Plan, with more being recruited on an ongoing basis.

According to Operation A.B.L.E. Executive Director Joan Cirillo, this year’s job fair will be unlike any the non-profit has hosted in the past by offering support services aimed at helping job seekers reignite their job searches. “We are taking a unique, holistic approach by providing information on a variety of topics that are of great concern to mature job seekers,” she said. “So in addition to meeting real employers with real jobs, attendees can get advice related to their job searches, interviewing skills, resumes, household finances, and health insurance. We’re even running a session on how best to apply for a job over the Internet.”

Cirillo reported that mature workers have had their confidence shaken as they hear that it typically takes mature workers 27 weeks or more to find work,” she said. “So we want them to come to this event to regroup, reinvigorate their job searches, and start feeling good about who they are and what they have to offer, particularly as policy makers in Washington and Beacon Hill begin to advance job creation and training programs.”

Job seekers are advised to visit the agency’s Virtual Career Fair at www.operationable.net, link to the jobs available at each of the participating employers, apply for the ones that interest them, and then meet with employers to talk about those jobs.

# # #