Samantha Arndts, left, and Kaitlyn Richesin compare notes after visiting exhibitors in Roane State's Health Care Job Fair, held in the atrium and a hallway of the Coffey-McNally Building on the Oak Ridge campus.
March 15, 2019
By Bob Fowler
Roane State staff writer
With their resumes and high hopes in hand, Roane State students fanned out in the atrium and a hallway of the community college's Coffey-McNally Building March 13 to seek futures in the healthcare field.
The occasion was the annual Health Care Job Fair at the Oak Ridge campus, the brainchild of Kim Harris, the college's director of Workforce Training & Placement, who launched the event in 2008. It's always held about midway through the college's spring semester as students start thinking about what's next after college.
Harris said this year's fair featured 41 employers in fields ranging from hospitals to nursing homes, dental practices to massage clinics. "It's running smoothly," said staff member Alicia Hall, who helped set up the event. "We've had a lot of students come by and say 'thanks.'"
Handouts by exhibitors included pens, candy of all types, information about employment and hand sanitizers. Several students toted plastic bags filled with those goodies.
"I'm working on some connections, and this gives you some good contacts," said Charity King of Oneida, who will receive an associate's degree in her major as a physical therapist assistant in May.
Tami Hampton of Knoxville has her certificate in EKG Technology from Roane State, and said she received business cards from two prospects.
"I'm surprised to see how many exhibitors there are," said Occupational Therapy Assistant program student Samantha Arndts of Ten Mile in Meigs County. "I think it's great."
Four students from Chattanooga, all in Roane State's Occupational Therapy Assistant program, take a break from visiting exhibitors in the college's annual Health Care Job Fair, held in the atrium and a hallway of the Coffey-McNally Building on the Oak Ridge branch campus. From left: Amber Napier, Kit Person, Heather Cunningham and Macailyn Underwood.
Kaitlyn Richesin of Loudon, also about to graduate with an OTA degree, said she liked that the job fair was limited to employers in the healthcare field.
Four students – Amber Napier, Kit Person, Heather Cunningham and Macailyn Underwood - all from Chattanooga and all also in the OTA program, paused in the atrium to compare notes.
They said they make the commute to Roane State's Oak Ridge campus because the college is the only higher education institution within a two-hour radius to offer an OTA curriculum.
Roane State Community College does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, creed, ethnicity or national origin, sex, disability, age, status as protected veteran or any other class protected by Federal or State laws and regulation and by Tennessee board of Regents policies with respect to employment, programs, and activities. View full non-discrimination policy.