LEWISTON — For former printing company employee Abbie Niemi, victory over a three-year job search came in the form of a new job in a new profession that will thoroughly challenge her.

One of about 600 job seekers at the Lewiston CareerCenter’s March 10 job fair, Niemi got to speak one-on-one with more than 30 prospective employers, including MAS Home Care of Maine.

According to Kim Proulx, director of children’s services, a new venture for MAS, the company ended up hiring about 10 people directly from the fair, including Niemi, who was hired by MAS’ eldercare specialist Pam Wing.

“This last job fair at the center surprised all of us,” said Mary LaFontaine, CareerCenter manager, noting that at previous fairs discouraged job seekers and a dearth of employers reflected a plagued economy. “This time we had a diverse, spirited applicant pool with the skills employers were seeking for the most part,” she said, noting the event was attended by a wide range of workers from entry level to seasoned professionals, including accountants and at least one engineer.

On April 8, the Androscoggin Chamber of Commerce and a host of sponsors will hold the 8th annual Androscoggin County Community Job Fair, and officials are hoping to duplicate the energy and job connections.  

According to chamber Executive Director Chip Morrison, the April job fair at Central Maine Community College will be bigger than last year’s. To date, 40 employers have signed up, with 50 projected to be there. About 1,000 job seekers are expected to attend.

“We run a job fair as a service to (chamber) members who are looking for employees and for people who are looking for jobs,” Morrison said. “In the past, (employers) have gone because they thought it was the right thing to do in the community,” he said. He affirmed that this year, however, more will be there with the intention to hire.

For Niemi, a painstaking search where she availed herself of education and training through the Lewiston CareerCenter ultimately resulted in a yearlong certified medical assistant course facilitated by the center.

Though she began a new job on March 20 as a personal services specialist, and not as a CMA as she’d hoped, Niemi says she’s fortunate to have a job. “This will give me a lot of experience in health care, and I get to be around people who really need my help,” she said.

“Abbie is a perfect example of job seekers not holding out for that perfect ‘the world is great and I’m getting everything I want in my job,’” LaFontaine said. “She’s looking at career ladders and recognizing she can grow within an organization.”

Calling the March job fair’s atmosphere “very positive and very optimistic,” Lee Auto Mall’s Human Resources Manager Kelly Nelson said she was looking to fill a spectrum of positions, from floor and Internet sales to auto technicians.

“I feel like the attendees there were prepared,” she said, distinguishing the March 10 event from those of the past couple years where job seekers were “disheartened and discouraged.”

Noting the company is recruiting throughout the state, Nelson said Lee is off to one of its best starts in a 75-year history. In addition to filling recently vacated positions, the company has added a dozen or so more, which is a trend owners hope to continue.

“There is no question we’ve gone from extreme caution six months ago to moderate caution to what I’d call moderate optimism about the future,” said the chamber’s Morrison. “It’s been slow in coming though,” he said, adding “ … this recession has been like none other in my lifetime and other people’s lifetimes.”

As commissioner of the Maine Department of Labor during the last recession in the early 1990s, Morrison said though the depth of the unemployment numbers were the same, they came back a lot faster then. “But we’re clearly on the upper side,” he concluded.

For Amie Parker, employment manager for Bates College and veteran of a variety of job fairs in the state, the March 10 CareerCenter event was clearly distinguished for its positive mood. Though seeking employees in the dining operations, educational services, coaching, IT and accounting areas, Parker said, “I really look at job fairs as a kind of PR opportunity for our organization to let people know that we are hiring; I never expect real results from it. But at this fair, there were some excellent people there.”

Parker cited a highly viable accounting candidate whose company is leaving the region, and who will soon be jobless through no fault of her own. “She has a great work history. She certainly has the skills. I was really excited,” Parker said.

Parker said she had not planned on attending the upcoming April 8 job fair, but because of the positive experience she had at the March job fair she has reserved her space.

“It doesn’t mean the work is done,” said the CareerCenter’s LaFontaine of an economy that, though showing signs of improvement, has paralyzed a workforce with accruing repercussions. “We’ve still got a lot of unemployed people here, but it’s nice to get these tidbits of positive news, which gives us a sense of hope that we’re moving in the right direction.”

Weekly unemployment activity (four week average):

Week ending Feb. 19, 2011: 1,788 new unemployment claims 22,236 continued unemployment claims

Same period for February 2010: 1,969 new unemployment claims 25,728 continued unemployment claims

Same period for February 2009: 2,593 new unemployment claims 28,951 continued unemployment claims

Same period for February 2008: 1,036 new unemployment claims 16,389 continued unemployment claims

Job fair facts

What: 8th Annual Androscoggin County Community Job Fair

When: Friday, April 8, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Where: Central Maine Community College, 1250 Turner St., Auburn

FMI: Call Jennifer Ziebart at the Androscoggin County Chamber of Commerce at 783-2249.