With 550 International Paper employees searching for new careers, the Louisiana Workforce Commission and the Northeast Louisiana Economic Alliance have scheduled a Job Fair and Education Expo to assist in the search.

From 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 8, mill employees will have the opportunity to speak with employers and schools at the Bastrop Municipal Center.

“It’s primarily for International Paper workers, who no longer have a job,” Tana Trichell, Northeast Louisiana Economic Alliance president/CEO, said. “We have targeted a number of companies both in the area and outside of the area.”

Event though some of the paper employees are retiring and others have already found jobs, Trichell said this is beneficial.

“We’re very hopeful that a lot of people will get jobs,” Trichell said. “There are good opportunities for those that come to the event.”

The Workforce Commission’s Rapid Response Team has held four skills development seminars in the last week to help prepare employees for their first job fair. The workshops focused on “Preparing for the Job Fair” and “Interview to Win.”

“No one had ever attended a job fair,” Janna Taylor, Human Resources Development Institute facilitator, said. “I stressed for them to be dressed properly, not be the first there and have plenty of resumes.”

The employees that attended the workshops also found out that they should research the companies they are interested in so they can speak to the employer better, what questions to ask the employer and what they will be asked.

Today, three more workshops have been set up.

The first from 10 a.m. .to 12 p.m. is “Starting and Financing a Small Business” by the University of Louisiana at Monroe’s Small Business Development Center. It will focus on business planning, marketing strategy development, financial planning, loan applications and sources of funds for small business start-up and expansion.

Following the business workshop, “Preparing for the Job Fair” has been scheduled two times.

The first is from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m.; the second is from 3:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.

The second workshop was set up to allow about 30 International Paper employees that are still “mothballing” equipment at the mill to come and find out about what to do for the job fair.

Other workshops to come are “Basic Computer Training” on Jan. 9 and Jan. 13, “Job Search Skills and Techniques” on Jan. 9 and Jan. 15, “Job Search for Older Workers” on Jan. 13 and “Interview to Win” will take place again from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 15.

Taylor has already started to work on preparing more workshops for the mill employees for the month of February.

Several of the workshops have already filled up. So if you want to attend the workshops that are limited in space, you must pre-register. To register, call 556.1723 or stop by the transition center at 805 East Cypress Avenue.