The mass hiring is a response to the 1,300 DHS employees who retired at the end of 2010 through an early retirement program, said Christina Fecher, a spokeswoman for the DHS. About 700 of the
employees worked in child services.

MSU is the second university DHS is visiting in an attempt to fill more than 500 positions in child welfare. Last week, recruiters were at Northern Michigan University. Other higher education institutions the recruiters will visit include Grand Valley State University, Marygrove College and Oakland University.

Fecher said hiring through recruitment sessions at the colleges is faster than finding potential employees through the website NEOGOV.com, the department’s usual method of hiring. The fact that potential employees must have a college degree is another important factor in DHS’s choice to work with colleges.

“We’re having to partner with these five colleges and universities because they offer the degrees that we’re looking for,” Fecher said. “We’re looking to get these people hired soon. By the end of spring we hope to have them all hired.”

Kristi Coleman, field career consultant for MSU’s College of Social Science said the hiring is important for the college.

“This is one of the biggest hiring events for a single employer we’ve had at MSU,” Coleman said. “What I think adds to the excitement is students at MSU have a preference to stay in Michigan after graduation. They want to give back to their communities and this provides them another opportunity to live here, work here and get back to
the communities which they love.”

Coleman said a job with DHS is one that provides real world experience, but is not for everyone.

“It’s not a position just anyone is going to be qualifying for,” Coleman said.

A series of screening questions are administered prior to the interviews such as “Are you prepared to remove children from their home?” and “Would you be comfortable testifying in court?”

“You’re dealing with abuse and neglect,” Coleman said. “This type of position you have to mentally and emotionally be able to handle.”

Frank Ceja, who graduated in December 2010 with a degree in criminal justice, has registered to attend the event. He said DHS’s strategy of hiring through colleges would lead to a more diverse pool of applicants.

“I understand how hard it is to be fresh out of college and have no experience,” Ceja said. “It (will) bring more variety for DHS to look at.”