At 6:15 a.m., the first applicant showed up at USF Embassy Suites in Tampa, ready to hand out resumes and secure a job at the Tampa Premium Outlets.
The sight brought a smile to Stacey Nance.
“I think this is a true testament of what the entire day is going to be,” said Nance, the outlet mall’s general manager.
(Fred Bellet/Photos)
As the hours passed, the crowd swelled by hundreds as job seekers waited outside the hotel’s ballroom for the doors to open at 10 a.m., for the Tampa Premium Outlets Job Fair.
By the time the doors closed — at 7 p.m. — mall representatives estimated more than 3,000 people had dropped off resumes and met with recruiters from the nearly 70 shops that participated in the job fair.
More than 800 jobs were on the line for what is the most anticipated mall opening in Pasco County in years.
The outdoor mall, with 110 brand name outlet stores, is expected to be a shopping mecca that will be a regional attraction on what was once pasture land, off State Road 56, near an Interstate 75 interchange.
The grand opening is a weekend celebration from Oct. 29 through Nov. 1. Details on special events and celebrity appearances are pending.
But on Aug. 27, the focus was on employment opportunities.
The job fair day brought out an eager pool of applicants, freshly dressed to step right into their hoped-for new jobs.
Land O’ Lakes resident Javier Perez said he wants to pursue an art degree at the Savannah College of Art and Design. A full-time mall job could make that dream happen.
“I’m going to apply to as many stores as I can,” he said, noting he sought advice on his resume from his mother, who works as a counselor.
Wesley Chapel resident Cherish Suddith is a pharmacy supervisor for a health care company. She hopes to work nights and weekends at her favorite store — Vera Bradley.
“I’m a fan,” said Suddith, who is a University of Phoenix graduate. And she added, “I’m used to working lots of hours.”
She is excited to see the mall move into the area, and looking to her future.
“I think it’s a good thing. It will drive the market,” she said. “I’m looking to purchase a home soon. I think it (the mall) was needed.”
It was a battle at times to find a place to fill out an application.
People sat in rows of chairs and hunched over countertops. Some elbowed their way to get wall space.
Matthew Holleran plopped to the floor by the registration tables. The recent Wesley High School graduate works seasonally as a referee in youth lacrosse.
But, his mother thought it was a good idea for him to look for full-time work, as he plans for college.
Most of his applications were for jobs at sports stores.
“I don’t want to do something I’m not interested in,” Holleran said.
Wesley Chapel resident Giovanni Velasquez was looking for part-time work, also preferably at a sports store.
“I’m big into sports,” said Velasquez, who is a junior at the University of South Florida.
Gerardo Gonzalez moved from Chicago to Wesley Chapel about a year ago. His work experience is in management, but he had a non-compete clause at his last job. Now, he said, “I need to go back to work.”
Gonzalez was looking over the list of outlet shops and mall positions, deciding on his selections as he walked toward the ballroom.
He expected the process to be competitive.
Brandon resident Winona Beates registered at the sign-up table as a recruiter. She declined to say which shop she represented. But said the store will need a broad range of positions, including sales and management.
“You always have to interview more people than you need,” she said. “If you want 50, you need to interview a 100.”
Some people already had interview appointments, because they had signed up ahead of time on an online virtual job fair site. Joseph Eyster got a call for an interview with Auntie Anne’s store’s manager, Steven Gray.
Eyster lives in Land O’ Lakes and is a recent graduate of the University of South Florida, with a degree in public health. But he said, “I’m eager to manage.”
Gray said he expected to hire more than 30 people, including assistant managers, shift leaders and crewmembers. “I want to get my people trained,” said Gray, who moved two weeks ago from Ohio. “It’s going to be fast paced. We’ll sell about 1,000 pretzels a day.”
He has been with the company more than five years and jumped at the chance to work at a new mall. “There’s more opportunity for me,” he said.
The Greater Wesley Chapel Chamber of Commerce and the Career Center at Pasco-Hernando State College coordinated the event. The chamber hosted a breakfast for recruiters and store representatives, and staffed a hospitality room, too.
Nearly a dozen volunteers wore bright orange T-shirts bearing the message: “Let’s put our cities on the map.”
“It’s happening. It’s on,” said Hope Allen, the chamber’s executive director. “We had a packed room. It’s very exciting to be here.”
Jobs are out there, said Kenneth Russ, vice president of business services at PHSC. “The economy is growing by leaps and bounds,” he said, noting applicants have to apply with the right skills at the right time.
The college assisted with job postings on the virtual job fair site, fielded phone calls from prospective applicants, and offered help with resumes. “We got a surge this morning,” he said. “People are going to the website.”
The job fair hours at Embassy Suites were set to end at 7 p.m., to accommodate people who have jobs. “There will be people who want a better job,” Russ said. “Everyone is always looking for a better job and higher wages.”
Most applicants were expected to come from Hillsborough, Hernando and Pasco counties.
Jenny Badger lives in Bay City and works for a Dade City company that cleans government buildings at night. But she’d like extra income, and has more time to work now that her son is in school.
She hoped to get at job at the Nike Factory Outlet. “I just shop there a lot,” she said.
That kind of passion can be a plus, according to a check-off sheet on the Ralph Lauren table. Recruiters looked for applicants that smiled, made eye contact and had a passion for the brand.
Nikia Stewart had her sights set on Michael Kors. She had the passion.
“I just love this brand,” she said. “It’s classic but comfortable. It’s not over the top, like a lot of brands.”
Stewart and her family moved from New York to Land O’ Lakes about eight years ago. She is a graduate of PHSC, with a degree in health care management.
She noted that Land O’ Lakes and the Wesley Chapel area have changed a lot.
“I like it (Land O’ Lakes), because when I first moved there I felt in the middle of nowhere. Now I’m somewhere,” Stewart said.
Published September 2, 2015
