ABOVE: Metro Inclusive Health’s 2019 Career Fair. Photo courtesy Metro.
TAMPA | Metro Inclusive Health will welcome LGBTQ-affirming employers and prospective employees to the nonprofit’s Tampa facility May 18 from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. for the return of its Inclusive Career Fair.
The event launched in 2018 as the Metro LGBTQ+ Career Fair. Organizers have worked to provide a welcoming space for Tampa Bay’s LGBTQ and ally workers to meet with leading businesses ever since.
While the fair was postponed in 2020 and held virtually in 2021 due to COVID-19, previous iterations have grown to welcome nearly 150 attendees. Its fourth outing will mark the first in Metro’s recently opened 30,000-square-foot site in Ybor, where organizers hope to break that in-person record. Masks will be required.
“In the beginning the event was held in one small room while our St. Petersburg office was under construction,” Metro Inclusive Health Division Director of Community Initiatives Nate Taylor explains. “The next year we had it in St. Petersburg’s Grand Hall and then it was held virtually. This year we’re going across the bay.
“We’re really trying to make sure that we’re helping those who are in the Tampa area,” he continues. “People will be able to get quality time in with our vendors and we also want them to know that with our new building and all the space that we have, they can get services through Metro there as well.”
Metro doubled their Tampa Bay offerings last August when the renovated site opened. The organization provides more than 100 services and programs throughout the region including primary care, behavioral health, HIV medical care, STI prevention and more.
As Metro is hiring for multiple positions in Tampa Bay to meet those needs, they will be among the vendors at this year’s fair. Also recruiting applicants will be Amazon, which has a growing presence in the area; the Crisis Center of Tampa Bay, which provides “help, hope and healing to people facing serious life challenges” and financial institutions Grow Financial, GTE Financial and Raymond James.
Additional vendors include Hays Recruiting Experts Worldwide, billed as the world’s leading recruitment experts; software experts KnowBe4 and SunPubs, which specializes in local restaurant and bar management. They oversee Caddy’s, MacDinton’s, Yard of Ale and more. The community-focused Tampa Metropolitan Area YMCA will also be in attendance.
“My charge with this is making sure that we’re putting companies in that have really good diversity and inclusion practices in their places of employment,” Taylor says. To participate, they’re required to provide their mission statement, detail how they support inclusion and more. Some have even completed Metro’s diversity, inclusion and equity training, which improves cultural competency for a wide range of organizations.
That’s why jobseekers “can expect to deal with employers that know about and understand the people in the community that we’re in,” Taylor stresses. “They can expect to be comfortable, expect to be listened to and expect to be given a shot.”
Those looking for a new career – or a change – are encouraged to register for this year’s fair in advance. They’re also urged to dress to impress and come with an updated resume. Interested employers can still reach out to Metro to learn more about participating in the fair as well.
“With a number of vendors that’s a little smaller, people can really get quality time in this year,” Taylor says. “The job market is hot. So if people are seeking fulfillment and something that is going to make a bigger impact on their life and they want to make a change, the time is now.”
Metro’s fourth Inclusive Career Fair will be held May 18 from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. at their Ybor facility, located at 2105 N. Nebraska Ave. in Tampa. Parking will be available at the Centro Asturiano de Tampa, one block over in their grass lot. For more information and to register for this year’s event, visit MetroTampaBay.org/Events/Career-Fair.
