ROANOKE (WSLS 10) - Local school systems are looking to hire hundreds of positions in the region and people come from all over the country to interview. The Western Virginia Public Education Consortium estimates between 500 to 700 positions are open every year. Some of those schools will be offering contracts Saturday at the annual job fair.
"They know there are a lot of jobs in this area. They know there are great school divisions in the consortium and I think that's one of our major draws. We have really good school divisions all doing extremely well with the standardized testing, sol testing that's required," said Dr. Terry Arbogast, with the Western Virginia Public Education Consortium. "Hire the best people they can hire. That's the most important thing we can do. You get the right people and good people then your school division is going to be successful. So they really work hard on interviewing and getting quality people in the school division."
21 school districts will be represented at the Salem Civic Center from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Dr. Arbogast encourages everyone to talk to multiple divisions because you might not be able to get a job placement in the school you want but there could be openings somewhere else.
More information on the job fair: http://www.wvpec.org/