Bucks County job seekers can get a jump-start on a new career at the Bucks County Spring Job Fair. The hiring event is March 29, 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. at Oxford Valley Mall. 

Hosted by RecruitmentQueen, a Bucks County-based digital job board, the career fair features more than 500 positions from 17 employers, a number expected to expand as the event nears. Hiring firms represent industries that include healthcare, customer service, banking, manufacturing, and retail. 

Pickering Manor, a senior living facility in Newtown, is one of them.

It seeks to fill at least 20 open positions, looking for nurses, certified nursing assistants, personal care aides, and support service professionals such as cooks, housekeepers, and dietary aides.

The facility is also recruiting for its 24-bed memory care unit, expected to open in April, according to Human Resources Director Ellen Huber. In preparation for the unit’s debut, everyone — including housekeepers and other non-caregivers — is undergoing dementia training with the goal of being the first in the nation to have all staff fully trained in the specialty.

Pickering Manor offers referral bonuses for employees, paid time off, and 401Ks for both full- and part-time employees. Full-time staff also are eligible for health insurance, company-funded life insurance, and short- and long-term disability.

The pandemic has made hiring of licensed staff more challenging, according to Huber.

“A lot of training programs were shut down,” she said. “Even in tech schools, they couldn’t graduate with their CNA.”

Offered in a similar format as other career fairs, job seekers will be able to question Pickering Manor representatives (as well as other employers) during the three-hour event, explained RecruitmentQueen Founder Jennifer Schultz.

“The benefit to attending the job fair is to seize the opportunity to talk to the recruiters and hiring managers of employers,” Schultz said. “This is extremely helpful versus applying to a position online, where you don’t get a chance to sometimes understand the job opening fully.”

Job seekers should come with several copies of their résumés, and despite the mall setting, professional attire is recommended.

The Bucks County Spring Job Fair registration is online.