MONROE, La. (KNOE) – The University of Louisiana at Monroe held a career fair on Tuesday, February 25, to prepare students for construction jobs like those for the Richland Parish Meta AI data center.

Construction companies like Mortenson Construction, Turner Construction and DPR Construction were at the event.

DPR Construction Officials say they are looking for the best talent in the area. They say they are looking to hire students for jobs in construction especially those for the Richland Parish Meta Data Center.

DPR Construction says they’re offering 150 office administration jobs and thousands of trades jobs.

DPR’s Construction’s Corey Wilson says they’re hiring for intern positions and full time positions.

“We’re starting our staff ramp up now, we are hiring today and will be probably until the end of the year. We need a lot of people and we’re taking applications,” says Corey Wilson with DPR. “This project presents the opportunity for all kinds of people to join the industry. We love people who come from engineering backgrounds, other construction work whether its residential or landscape or big or small.”

ULM’s Director of the School of Construction Management, Clint Martin, says the university sees a job placement rate of 100% for construction students, and they’re equipping students with the tools they need to be successful on jobs like those with Meta.

“There’s a large demand for our students, not just around the region, but also nationally and sometimes internationally,” says Martin. “We’re teaching them stuff like scheduling, estimating , surveying, and more. They take a lot of business courses as well like accounting and management courses because they’re going to be managers and leaders in the construction field.”

DPR Construction says they plan to visit other universities in Northeast Louisiana soon.

To apply for construction jobs with DPR Construction, visit their website.

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