(Courtesy of Project Ezrah) This past Tuesday evening was the Project Ezrah Inaugural Job Fair, and by the overwhelming response, keep your eye out for the next one.

There were 12 presenters with a combined number of over 100 jobs in various sectors, varying in requirements from entry-level to senior roles. The room quickly filled with over 120 eager job seekers—both employed and unemployed professionals. In addition, many candidates had their resumes reviewed and received valuable feedback from resume experts who volunteered their time and knowledge.

Jeff Mendelson, director of employment at Project Ezrah, kicked off the evening with some key strategies for an effective job search, followed by Rachel Krich, executive director of Project Ezrah, welcoming the audience.

Prior to the event, Mr. Mendelson sent out an email to the participating companies asking them to incorporate a Project Ezrah approach when meeting with candidates that evening. Even if a company may not have a current opening for a specific candidate, the company’s representative took the time to spend a few more minutes with each candidate—to get to know them and to consider making other referrals or recommendations to their network.

After the event, Shmuel Shayowitz, CEO of Approved Funding, said he had done just that. At the job fair he met with a few IT candidates he does not currently have any jobs for. However, by the end of the evening he had already sent their resumes to two senior IT professionals in different companies.

Everyone engaged with one another, and Project Ezrah was encouraged that there were many connections made as a result of this job fair.