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Blair job openings attracting applicants

County’s postings typically draw 50 to 60 applications

HOLLIDAYSBURG — Blair County government has job openings and in some cases, a lot of applicants.

An administrative assistant position at the county conservation office, vacated due to a retirement, drew 215 applications in two days, county Human Resources Director Katherine Swigart said Thursday.

And 45 of the 215 were considered to be qualified, Swigart said.

While some local companies have reported difficulty in finding qualified employees to fill job openings, Swigart told the county salary board Thursday that the county’s positions continue to attract applicants.

An exception, she said after the meeting, might be a position that requires more technical skills, such as in internet technology, where the job market is more competitive.

But typically, she said, the county’s job postings draw 50 to 60 applicants including ones who meet the qualifications.

That’s the opposite of what some local employers have been experiencing, commissioner Chairman Bruce Erb said.

As of the end of December, the county had 459 full-time positions and 62 part-time positions.

Applicants are typically interested in the county’s work hours and benefits package, Swigart said.

While some county jobs offer a starting pay as low as minimum wage, at $7.25 an hour, others pay more.

On Thursday, the salary board voted in favor of filling a part-time receptionist position in the county’s cost and fines office at $9.18 per hour and a part-time clerk-typist position in the prothonotary office, also at $9.18 per hour.

The board also voted to fill a vacant full-time administrative accounting position in the controller’s office at an estimated annual pay of $18,564; a vacant geographic information mapper position in the assessment office, at an annual salary between $24,624 and 26,754, and two vacant caseworker positions in the Children, Youth & Families office, at starting annual salaries of $30,381.

In addition, the county is advertising for an auto mechanic in its highway garage at a starting annual salary of $17.20 an hour, a full-time painter in its public works department with a starting hourly salary of $16.43, a sheriff’s deputy with a starting hourly salary of $13.75 and a tax assessor at an hourly pay of $10.88 or $12.06 with certification.

The county also has a human resources manager post available and posted on its website at www.blair co.org, with a starting pay of $45,000 annually.

Descriptions and requirements for those jobs are posted on the county’s website.

Mirror Staff Writer Kay Stephens is at 946-7456.

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