Barbara Fair started her first job at 16, and she continued working for more than 40 years before getting fired in 2009.
“I’ve always had a steady full-time job,” said Fair, a Gainesville resident. “To say getting laid off was a shock would be an understatement.”
More than 30 other women joined Fair and attended the Women’s Career Expo at the Santa Fe Center for Innovation and Economic Development on Wednesday.
UF’s Students in Free Enterprise club hosted the event to help women re-enter the work force by inviting local employers and program coordinators to attend.
Fair said having to start over again to find a job has been harder than she expected.
“I still have a few more years before I can even think about retirement,” Fair said. “I’m not even sure what employers are looking for anymore.”
Nancy Griffin, the coordinator of Focus on the Future, an organization that helps homemakers get jobs, said many women are intimidated to re-enter the work force or to look for another job.
Expos like this can help women adjust to the evolving job market, according to Griffin.
“We’re not focused on teaching completely new skills, but updating and utilizing the skills they might already have,” Griffin said.
