Collection Agency Job Fair Draws a Crowd of Applicants

CEDAR FALLS, IA – More than 300 people may have applied before him, but Robert Thomas was confident following his interview for one of 200 new jobs opening at a local debt recovery agency.

The CBE Group Inc. held a job fair Tuesday at Pipac Centre on the Lake. The company is looking to fill jobs created when it was awarded a student loan collection contract from the U.S. Department of Education.

The 200 new employees will work in CBE’s Waterloo office. An additional 200 workers split between Waterloo and CBE’s West Des Moines facility will be hired over the next 18 months. In all, the 400 added positions will nearly double CBE’s current employment of 423.

Anxious job applicants began lining up for interviews 45 minutes before they were scheduled to start at 9 a.m. And by 11:30 a.m., 300 people had been interviewed.

CBE had anticipated 400 to 500 applicants, according to company senior vice president of human resources Mary Phillips. She said it was likely they would finish beyond that total when the process ended at 7 p.m.

“It’s been absolutely phenomenal,” she said. “The interviews have been going very well, and we’re pleasantly surprised by the quality of the candidates.

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