Chesapeake Energy job fair attracts 1,200-plus to Jackson Township
Akron Beacon Journal – Sarah Shafer of Tuscarawas County’s Mineral City looked like a rose among thorns.
Of the 1,200-plus people who attended a job fair Thursday at Kent State University’s Stark Campus, Shafer was among only a handful of women who waited — some for hours — to get a shot at a job with Chesapeake Energy Corp.
Shafer, 25, said the company advertised it needs people with many of the skills she has learned in her six years with the Ohio National Guard, especially the year she spent hauling heavy equipment in Baghdad as a sergeant.
“I might not look like it, but I can lift a lot. The military has given me the ability to do just about anything,” said Shafer, who said she felt comfortable behind the wheel of the big rigs she drove, hauling tanks during her service in the Mideast.
“Chesapeake is known for hiring people with the military,” she said.
Shafer was among hundreds of veterans at the event Thursday who were counting on their military experience to give them an advantage with the energy company that is the biggest player in Ohio’s shale gas boom. The job fair was an opportunity to put the corporation and job seekers together.
“The workforce in Ohio is well qualified and has shown great promise at past open-house events that we have held here. Chesapeake has extended job offers to hundreds of locals and plans to continue to grow by hiring Ohioans,” Mark Matusick, Chesapeake’s corporate development manager, said in a prepared statement.
U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Avon Lake, said in a phone interview Thursday he proposed the event with the company to give out-of-work veterans a foot in the door.
“Service members who risk their lives protecting our nation shouldn’t have to wonder whether or not they’ll be able to find a job when they leave the service. Today, many of our veterans face an unacceptably high unemployment rate,” Brown said. “Job fairs like these can help Ohio veterans and workers find new employment opportunities.”
