Posted at: 10/06/2009 7:04 PM
By: David Springer

Employers Look for New Employees

(ABC 6 NEWS) -- Olmsted County's largest employer is looking to the future and possibly recruit the newest batch of workers before they even get out of high school.

Before the day is over nearly 800 high school students from 45 different schools will visit the Mayo Clinic career fair and will learn about everything from taking blood samples to genetic counseling.

"I definitely have interest in the medical field," says Jackie O'Reilly.

Jackie O'Reilly, a senior from Pine Island High School, says she was amazed at all the different areas of the medical field on display.

Needless to say many people are thinking about jobs these days. These are the current unemployment numbers for Olmsted, Mower and Freeborn counties and while this career fair can do little to curb those numbers, it might be able to prevent them from taking place in the near future.

"There are a lot of baby boomers that are working in healthcare. Those folks will want to retire some day. And we need these folks to step in," says Mayo Clinic's Guy Finne.

Folks like O'Reilly, who plans on studying biology after she graduates from high school.

"The medical field will always be here. It is service, you know, you're helping the people. It's not going to be out-sourced," says O'Reilly.

Last year Mayo Clinic created a Facebook page just for the students who attend this career fair in the hopes of keeping tabs on them and someday figuring out how many of them actually end up working at Mayo.