ABC13 celebrates year-and-a-half of Who's Hiring fair with over 350 people landing jobs

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- A year-and-a-half ago, ABC13 launched a weekly Who's Hiring job fair. Since then, it has helped hundreds of people land jobs.

You may not recognize Andrea Burts' face, but you might have heard her voice before. That's because Burts works as a customer care specialist with a phone company.

"It's great because I'm doing something else that I actually love to do - which is customer service," Burts said. "That's exactly what I've always done ... is customer service."

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Burts wasn't always doing this, though. She worked in healthcare when the COVID-19 pandemic hit. After losing a client, Burts was out of a job.

"It was very scary. Having to depend on that unemployment, which was really nothing every two weeks, wasn't it for me," Burts recalled.

Burts is an ABC13 viewer and knew about the weekly job fairs with Workforce Solutions.

"I've watched this little segment grow from little bit to little bit. And now, you got to see this, and click and this link and see what you get," Burts said.

A couple of months ago, Burts heard from a Workforce Solutions recruiter. At the time, she thought it was too good to be true.

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"Good jobs come to other people, and not me," Burts recalled. "When I got that email, I was like, 'Yeah,' I kind of doubted it, but it actually happened."

Burts landed a job where she gets to work from home, receives benefits, and even makes more money.

And she's not alone.

In the past year, we've helped more than 350 people. If you're looking for work, we host a job fair each Thursday at 11:30 a.m. on our website, and wherever you stream ABC13.

"Just pick up the phone, and get started. It's really easy to do," Workforce Solutions spokesperson, Michelle Castrow said. "All of the people we have answering those phones on the ABC13 viewer hotline are trained to help you with whatever your need is."

Burts remembers when she heard from a recruiter. An email that changed her life, and her fear of losing her job has turned into something special.

"Thank you so much," Burts said. "You never met me, but you changed my life. I greatly appreciate it."

ABC13 will host another virtual job fair on Thursday, Dec. 2.

To learn more about ABC13 job fairs, follow Nick Natario on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.