Released on
The largest hiring event in the Spokane region, the 2025 Career Expo, was held in April the Spokane County Fair and Expo Center. The event included interactive hands-on exhibits, training providers and learning opportunities, community resource providers, translation services, and 100 hiring employers! A computer lab, mini-workshops, child activity center, and photo booth for professional headshots were big hits with job seekers.
One of the most common recommendations for improvement was “bigger sandwiches in the lunches!”
Highest turnout since the pandemic
Nearly 1,500 job seekers attended the Career Expo.
“The turnout was something special,” said Kevin Williams of the Spokane Workforce Council. “There was an undeniable energy in the room. You could see the drive in every job seeker, and our staff came ready to meet that energy head-on. Seeing over 1,500 community members show up for opportunities in our community demonstrates the value of the workforce system in the greater Spokane region.”
Here’s a sample of what some participating business owners said.
- “This was one of the best — if not the best — career fair I have attended. It was very well organized.”
- “We found a fantastic candidate for our machine operator role. It’s hard to find people with aerospace experience, and this career expo gave us the opportunity to meet a unicorn today!”
- “I had a non-stop line of people for the first 2 and a half hours of the event.”
And some job seekers said:
- “I learned some valuable things about resumes and certification programs.”
- “I liked that there were multiple employers and recruiting agencies. The afternoon was good for conversation! I liked the resources, and the LinkedIn photo booth was genius! The volunteers were incredibly helpful and friendly.”
- “The staff were amazingly helpful and just generally good people.”
Wagstaff Applied Technologies set up a booth outside where job seekers could try welding. Some even showcased their welding skills to potentially be matched with the company’s job openings.
Area high schools bussed in students, too – which was great. (Although next year, we’ll ask them to park in the far corner, instead of in the middle of the parking lot – taking up 8 precious parking spaces. We didn’t foresee that problem!)
Many employers said on their after-event survey that they plan to interview 10 to 20 job seekers from the event and intend to hire 1 to 5 of them.
“New monthly job postings in Spokane County have slowed so far this year,” said Mike McBride, regional labor economist with the state Employment Security Department. “So the Career Fair offered job seekers a tremendous opportunity to interact directly with employers who are actively looking to fill open jobs. The strong attendance at this year’s event really shows what a valuable asset the annual Career Fair is for the Spokane community.”