Traditionally held the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, Hello West Michigan is holding its “Back To Michigan” job event virtually this year. But instead of just one day, it will be spread out over a full week leading up to the holiday.
“All you need is a computer with internet access," said Rachel Gray, executive director of Hello West Michigan, explaining how easy it is to get signed up and meet local employers. "You don’t have to be physically in west Michigan, which is kind of a great part."
The event starts Tuesday, November 17, and runs through November 24, with the West Michigan and Detroit regions scheduled for Thursday, November 19, 3-7 p.m. According to Gray, anyone can participate in both sessions.
“Because it’s focused on different regions this year, if you have someone living outside of the area who is interested in Michigan but may be open to different regions, they can participate in more than one event on the days where there are two events happening simultaneously. They don’t have to attend the entire time, they can start at one event, log out, and then log in to the other event. You can definitely participate in both."
The West Michigan region has 27 different companies participating this yea,r Gray said.
“Basically you get to go around the event lobby, you can click on different companies, learn about them and the opportunities that they have available, and then you can click a button that says ‘Get in line’,” Gray explained. "Then a recruiter can actually take it to a video chat if they want to. So, definitely be ready for a video chat, just in case they take it that way.”
Gray said the employers participating cover multiple West Michigan counties on the 19th, from Kent to Ottawa, Allegan, Newaygo, Montcalm, Lake and Oceana, and have positions that vary from IT, engineering, finance, supply chain, HR, marketing, manufacturing, and healthcare.
Some of the companies include Consumer’s Energy, Spectrum Health, Meijer, City of Grand Rapids, Herman Miller, Steelcase and Perrigo.
