Deciding on a career can be a tough choice, but the Central Alabama Gateway to Opportunities career fair gave students plenty of ideas of what to be when they grow up.

More than 2,700 middle and high school students participated in the career expo Wednesday at Wallace Community College Selma. It was put on in conjunction with WCCS, the Selma and Dallas County Economic Development Authority and Region 6 Workforce Development.

“This allows them an opportunity to look at careers that can still advance them to be very successful,” said Felecia Pettway, who helped organize the expo. “We had a representation of cosmetology, healthcare, welding, electrical and industrial maintenance. Those are just a few.”

According to Pettway, 20 different companies took part in the fair and 40 supported the effort to educate young people about potential careers.

“We hope that our kids will take away a broader view of the opportunities that exist in those fields, and more importantly that exist in our area,” Pettway said.

Pettway said it also highlights job opportunities in Dallas and the surrounding counties.

Wayne Vardaman, executive director for the Selma and Dallas County Economic Development Authority, said many people think there aren’t jobs in Selma and Dallas County, but that is a misperception.

“There are 5,200 people that come into Selma and Dallas County every day for a job. A lot of people don’t know that,” Vardaman said. “We’ve got plenty of jobs. If we didn’t, we couldn’t support the 5,200 from another town.”

Vardaman said the problem employers are having is finding qualified people to hire.

“There is a group of folks out there that are not trained and what not. We need to make sure the kids that come through these schools are in the right career paths, so they can get employed, and we don’t have the higher unemployment. It is important that we get rid of that,” Vardaman said.

“The problem that we have now is that [people] don’t have the prerequisite skills to hold a job. Technology has gotten to the point where you’ve got to have the prerequisite skills to be able to learn welding, multi-craft maintenance and that kind of stuff.”

Vardaman said he hopes seeing the career opportunities that are out there will influence people to get the proper training and education that is needed to get one of the many jobs that are available to them.