COVINGTON, Ga. - In its third year, the Regional Job Fair looks to give local job seekers the extra boost they may need to help land their dream job with the addition of the "Upgrade Your Look" professional blazer area. 

"As we are now in the third year of the job fair, we are always trying to tweak and get better, while thinking about things that will make us more poised for getting people jobs," Serra Hall, senior project manager for Covington/Newton County Economic Development, said. "One thing that we've found is that sometimes when job seekers are coming, they're worried about getting their resumes ready or just being on time to come to the job fair while managing their other practices that day that they really don't have time to think about what they're wearing or how to dress for success when they're going into basically an interview at the job fair. 

"We have some great partners at Goodwill and our friends in Walton County with their organization called FISH (Walton County’s Faith in Serving Humanity, a group of 65 Walton County churches who work together to meet the needs of the people in Walton County). They have both stepped up and we are going to have an area that if you need a jacket or a blazer, men or women, we will have a variety and a large number available for free. You don't have to give them back. They're all fully cleaned and ready to go. It will be yours to keep."

Hall said the idea for adding the "Upgrade Your Look" professional blazer area came after attending the Opportunity ATL job fair earlier this year. She said she was "surprised" by how many people utilized a similar service at that event. 

"We were watching people go in not having that professional attire, getting a jacket, and you could tell their entire stature, their whole way of handling themselves, changed when they walked out of that room," she said. "That was something that made this a must-have for what we're doing.

"That extra piece of making the job seeker a little bit more available to hire or giving them that boost of confidence is what we want to see. We want to make this an easy way for you to get a job and be ready to go in front of these employers."

Dessa Morris, workforce development coordinator for the Development Authority of Walton County, said donations of gently-used adult blazers can be made at local Goodwill outlets, either of the FISH Thrift stores – one is located in Monroe and one in Loganville – or by contacting Morris at dessa@choosewalton.com to make other arrangements.

The "Upgrade Your Look" professional blazer area will be located adjacent to the registration table of the 2019 Regional Job Fair at Georgia Piedmont Technical College Friday, Oct. 4. For more information about this and other new features of the job fair, visit https://www.selectnewton.com/regional-job-fairs.