Rasmussen College offers job opportunities and tips at career fair – Rockford Register Star

Tracy Gilbert has had steady work in manufacturing for 20 years, but when her mid-40s hit, she decided it was time to do something different. That’s why the Oregon resident decided to get training as a health information technician through Rasmussen College and start hunting for a new job. “Anytime you look in the paper, there are a ton of ads for jobs working with health records,” Gilbert said. “I thought this would be a good way for me to get into a new field.” Gilbert was one of hundreds of area residents who came to Rasmussen’s career fair Thursday at the Clock Tower Resort & Conference Center looking for a new employment opportunity. More than 45 companies and community organizations attended. Jamie Hintz, career services adviser at Rasmussen, said the turnout was “promising,” especially because the companies that came were either hiring or ready to hire in the near future. In Boone and Winnebago counties, businesses have added workers to their payrolls in 24 of the past 26 months, according to data from the Illinois Department of Employment Security. In June, the most recent month for which data was available, companies were employing 133,200 workers in the area. Despite the steady job growth, Hintz said there is still a lot of competition for work, which is why Rasmussen offered mock interviews and other training sessions for career fair attendees. “It’s an intimidating process,” she said. “People can get so frustrated, but it’s possible they’re not doing everything they can be to find work.”The number of people working in Boone and Winnebago counties reached a level not seen since 2008, but a flood of people applying for summer work pushed the area’s jobless rate up from May. According to the Illinois Department of Employment Security, the unemployment rate of Boone and Winnebago counties increased from 10.4 percent in May, which was the lowest it has been since November 1998, to 11.5 percent in June. The rate was still 0.9 percentage points lower than the rate in June 2011. The rate increased despite the fact that the number of people working in Boone and Winnebago counties increased by nearly 1,600 people, growing from 149,188 in May to 150,793 in June. The June total employed figure is an estimate, but if it ends up an accurate one, June marked the first time since December 2008 that more than 150,000 people were working in the Rock River Valley. The increased hiring though drew more people into the workforce. The number of people working or actively looking for work grew from 166,523 in May to 170,472 in June. The area gained workers from May in such seasonal activities as construction and leisure and hospitality along with manufacturing. Companies in the retail trade and warehousing industries cut workers along with school districts and local governments.The number of people working in Boone and Winnebago counties reached a level not seen since 2008, but a flood of people applying for summer work pushed the area’s jobless rate up from May. According to the Illinois Department of Employment Security, the unemployment rate of Boone and Winnebago counties increased from 10.4 percent in May, which was the lowest it has been since November 1998, to 11.5 percent in June. The rate was still 0.9 percentage points lower than the rate in June 2011. The rate increased despite the fact that the number of people working in Boone and Winnebago counties increased by nearly 1,600 people, growing from 149,188 in May to 150,793 in June. The June total employed figure is an estimate, but if it ends up an accurate one, June marked the first time since December 2008 that more than 150,000 people were working in the Rock River Valley. The increased hiring though drew more people into the workforce. The number of people working or actively looking for work grew from 166,523 in May to 170,472 in June. The area gained workers from May in such seasonal activities as construction and leisure and hospitality along with manufacturing. Companies in the retail trade and warehousing industries cut workers along with school districts and local governmentsThe number of people working in Boone and Winnebago counties reached a level not seen since 2008, but a flood of people applying for summer work pushed the area’s jobless rate up from May. According to the Illinois Department of Employment Security, the unemployment rate of Boone and Winnebago counties increased from 10.4 percent in May, which was the lowest it has been since November 1998, to 11.5 percent in June. The rate was still 0.9 percentage points lower than the rate in June 2011. The rate increased despite the fact that the number of people working in Boone and Winnebago counties increased by nearly 1,600 people, growing from 149,188 in May to 150,793 in June. The June total employed figure is an estimate, but if it ends up an accurate one, June marked the first time since December 2008 that more than 150,000 people were working in the Rock River Valley. The increased hiring though drew more people into the workforce. The number of people working or actively looking for work grew from 166,523 in May to 170,472 in June. The area gained workers from May in such seasonal activities as construction and leisure and hospitality along with manufacturing. Companies in the retail trade and warehousing industries cut workers along with school districts and local governmentsRockford Health System is eliminating 14 jobs and reducing the hours of 20 other employees to help reduce costs. The employees were notified of the news on Wednesday, according to a statement from Dan Parod, senior vice president of hospital and administrative affairs. Parod said the employees work primarily in non-patient care areas. Affected employees will receive severance and help with identifying other jobs within the system if appropriate. Parod said the cuts are in response to lower than expected patient volumes and in anticipation of declining reimbursement for services related to federal health care reform. Labor costs account for 60 percent of the health system’s total expenses, and the health system employs about 3,300 people. Parod said the system is also reducing costs by eliminating positions through attrition, adjusting employee work hours to account for changes in patient census and carefully scrutinizing open positions. Rockford Health System isn’t alone in its financial struggles. In May, SwedishAmerican Health System announced it was laying off 49 employees and trimming an additional 76 vacant positions. Winnebago County Sheriff’s deputies are looking for a man who reportedly exposed himself to a woman over the weekend on the Stone Bridge Trail. The woman said she was walking on the trail about 7:30 p.m. Sunday when a man walking the opposite direction and talking on a cellphone approached her, pulled down his pants and exposed himself. The woman said the man also made a lewd comment to her, at which point she ran and told another woman on the path what had taken place. The woman described the man as white, about 20 years old, about 5-feet-10, 180 pounds with facial hair. He was wearing a baseball cap, a dark Dallas Cowboys T-shirt and dark cargo shorts.

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Rasmussen College offers job opportunities and tips at career fair – Rockford Register Star