On Tuesday, the Greater Binghamton Chamber of Commerce teamed up with Visions Federal Credit Union to help connect job seekers with local employment opportunities. These connections were created at the 2015 Project Homecoming Career Fair. The event was held at the Oakdale Mall.


Endwell resident Emilio Colon, a recent college graduate, says the career fair helped him to advance in his local job search.


“Since I just graduated college in May, I think the best case scenario is to find a job locally and save some money,” said Colon.


Hundreds of people attended Wednesday’s event to find employment opportunities. The Binghamton Chamber's President and CEO, Lou Santoni, said the career fair’s mission is to attract college graduates and those visiting family; showing them a variety of job prospects available in the area.


“If they can’t find the job that they’re looking for, at least they have the opportunity to do one-on-one interviews with a lot of different employers,” said Santoni.


More than 50 companies, including The Raymond Corporation, Lourdes and ACHIEVE were available to network with job seekers.


“Networking is still the best way to find a job. And, as recruiters, we’re always keeping an eye out for somebody who’s got talent and abilities. We may not be able to find them a job immediately, but we may know of something down the road where they’d be a really good fit. So it’s important to get out there and talk to people and let people know what you can do,” said Gene George, recruiter for The Raymond Corporation.


“It’s good to have face-to-face interaction and then people can see your face and maybe be able to recognize you if you come in for an interview,” said Colon.


Applicants also had the chance to submit their resumes into a drop box. Those resumes will go into an online database that all 50 companies will be able to access.


The Chamber of Commerce holds a career fair twice a year. The next fair will be held in June.