City of Columbia seeks to fill vacant positions through downtown career fair

COLUMBIA, SC (WOLO) — Hundreds of people in the Midlands work for the City of Columbia and you can too.

If you are looking for a new career or a change in career, you might find your next position with one of the city’s various departments.

Of the dozens of departments that make up the City of Columbia, 20 were at the convention center downtown on Tuesday hoping to fill vacancies

“Parks and recreation department has a high need. They have a high need because they have a lot of divisions underneath that department,” said Sharon Nelson, City of Columbia talent acquisition.

The career fair at the Columbia Metropolitan Convention Center offered full-time positions as well as summer positions for high school students.

One soon-to-be high school graduate is interested in a part time position at the same time as she goes to college.

“I want to work though at the same time to pay for it. I was thinking about the fire department. That’s what’s exciting me right now,” said AC Flora High School senior Raven Chaplin.

The talent acquisition manager says that there is room for advancement, growth and other opportunities within City of Columbia.

“Individuals who come to the city and start in one department can then actually find that they have other skills and opportunities in other departments,” Nelson said.

One of the places looking to hire at Tuesday’s career fair was the Columbia Police Department. It has plenty of vacancies and is looking for people who are ready to serve their community.

“We look a lot at the character of a person. There’s obviously steps they have to go through to become a police officer. We offer a post-test, written test and a physical agility course up front so they know the aspects of the job,” said Sgt. Harry Delage, City of Columbia Police Recruiting.

A prospective officer learns in-house, trains for the academy and then studies at the academy for 8 weeks before becoming sworn in as a Class 1 officer.

However. Delage says the hard work is worth it and has enjoyed his career in law enforcement.

“Almost 25 and a half years now. I still love every day,” he said. “I still love serving my community. I love trying to get people into this job that like serving their community.”

No matter which department you want to work in for the city, the positions have worked to offer higher pay due to the demand for employees across industries.

“We have come to the point where we are very competitive now as far as the industry is concerned,” Nelson said. “If there is an opportunity for someone to come to the city, make a nice living and give back right to where they live, this is the place they should be. 

Although the job fair ended Tuesday evening, you can see career opportunities at City of Columbia here.