Fall 2026 Jacksonville Job Fairs & Hiring Events: Your Complete Guide
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Fall 2026 Jacksonville Job Fairs & Hiring Events: Your Complete Guide

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JACKSONVILLE, FL — Florida's minimum wage rose from $14.00 to $15.00 an hour on Wednesday, September 30, 2026. That was the last of the dollar-a-year steps voters wrote into the state constitution in 2020, and it landed in the middle of Jacksonville's fall hiring season, on exactly the retail, warehouse, facilities and food-service jobs that this fall's hiring events are trying to fill. Publix, Republic Services, Goodwill and a stack of staffing agencies are setting up tables into November, and the jobs on those tables are being repriced.

Fourteen hiring events between September 17 and November 10; six have already taken place. Here they are in order.

In a hurry? Skip straight to the job links and begin searching now →

📅 Table of Contents

JobNewsJacksonville.com Job Fair — Thursday, September 17

10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. | DoubleTree by Hilton Jacksonville Riverfront, 1201 Riverplace Blvd.

This event has passed.

Four hours on the Southbank, free for job seekers, free parking, and open to everyone from recent graduates to people with twenty years in. This is the long-running general-audience fair in this market, and it is the one where you should expect the widest spread of industries in one room. The organizer does not publish the employer list until the Friday before the event, so check the day before if you want to plan your route around the floor. Event details from the organizer. The same organizer returns to the same hotel on October 28; that date is listed below. → See details

Community Job Fair at Normandy Park Baptist — Thursday, September 17

10:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. | Normandy Park Baptist Church, 7050 Normandy Blvd.

This event has passed.

Same morning, opposite side of town, with a published employer roster: Publix, Republic Services, Century Ambulance, City Wide Facility Solutions, LeafFilter, FastTrack Staffing, AtWork Personnel, Goodwill Industries of North Florida, FDOT Statewide Workforce Development and Jacksonville Fire and Rescue. Better Together runs these, and two things set them apart. They actively recruit second-chance employers, meaning employers who will look at a record. And they recruit employers who can hire people whose English is still coming along. Short-term child care is offered on site, which removes the single most common reason people miss these. Register with Better Together.

Military Sealift Command Recruitment — Thursday, October 1

Two sessions, 10:00 – 11:00 a.m. and 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. | CareerSource Northeast Florida Southside Career Center, 11268 Beach Blvd.

This event has passed.

Worth being precise about this one, because the name misleads people: this is a civilian job and it is at a civilian workforce center. No base access, no uniform, no prior service required. Military Sealift Command crews the ships that supply the Navy, and it is recruiting Able Seaman Maintenance, Chief Cook, Cook Baker and Electronics Technician. These are seagoing jobs with federal benefits, and they are one of the few paths in this town where a galley background turns into a career rather than a shift. CareerSource does require an active Employ Florida registration to attend, which is free and takes a few minutes online, so do it the night before rather than in the parking lot. Event page from CareerSource Northeast Florida. → See details

Community Job Fair at Gardenview Baptist — Thursday, October 1

10:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. | Gardenview Baptist Church, 3139 Armsdale Rd., Jacksonville, FL 32218

This event has passed.

The North Jacksonville stop on the Better Together fall circuit. Free, open to the public, resume help on site, lunch provided. The organizer lists ten employers and resource partners: Republic Services, Goodwill Industries of Northeast Florida, Nemours Children's Health, Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department, FDOT's Statewide Workforce Development program, Arwood Container Services, Wright of Florida, MasterCorp, FastTrack Staffing and AtWork Personnel. Short-term child care is offered during the fair. Armsdale Road runs off Main Street north of the airport. → See details

Career Connect at the Southside Career Center — Wednesday, October 14

10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. | CareerSource NEFL Southside Career Center, 11268 Beach Blvd., Jacksonville, FL 32246

This event has passed.

Back on Beach Boulevard two weeks after the Sealift sessions, and this time the floor is broad. CareerSource lists American In-Home Care for home health aides, CNAs and RNs; Manpower for driver and warehouse roles; Community First Credit Union for sales and teller jobs; the City of Jacksonville for custodian, stock clerk and maintenance work; Allied Universal for armed security officers; and Statewide Workforce Development. It is open to all, veterans are especially encouraged, and there are one-on-one resume reviews. Professional dress is required, and so is a full Employ Florida registration plus a registration for the event itself. Event page from CareerSource Northeast Florida. → See details

Community Job Fair at Aspire Church San Marco — Thursday, October 15

11:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. | Aspire Church San Marco, 1936 Hendricks Ave.

This event has passed.

San Marco, three hours, free to register, donations optional and not expected. This is the most central location on the list and the easiest one to reach without a car, which matters more than employers usually realize. The organizer lists Publix, Baptist Health, the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office, Republic Services, Chick-fil-A Tinseltown, Goodwill Industries of Northeast Florida, FDOT's Statewide Workforce Development program, Manpower, MasterCorp and FastTrack Staffing. Register with Better Together.

Recruitment Event at the Nassau County Career Center — Tuesday, October 20

10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. | CareerSource NEFL Nassau County Career Center, 96042 Lofton Square Court, Yulee, FL 32097

A small one, worth knowing about if you live up toward Yulee and Fernandina Beach. This is a single-employer recruitment, not a job fair: the organizer lists HotelPro, hiring for housekeeping. It is open to all, veterans are especially encouraged, and CareerSource offers one-on-one resume reviews. Registration is required, along with a full Employ Florida registration. Come for the housekeeping openings or save the drive. Event page from CareerSource Northeast Florida.

Community Job Fair at Gateway to Heaven — Thursday, October 22

10:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. | Gateway to Heaven Church, 7700 N. Pearl St.

The Northside close-out of the fall circuit, and the one that most explicitly recruits second-chance employers and Spanish-speaking employers. If you have a record that keeps getting you screened out of online applications, this is the room where a person reads your situation instead of a filter. The organizer lists Publix, RaceTrac, Republic Services, Goodwill Industries of Northeast Florida, Manpower, AtWork, MasterCorp, Gem Support Services, FDOT's Statewide Workforce Development program, the Florida Department of Corrections' Reception and Medical Center, and How Money Works. Apply to the ones you want online before you go, so your time at the table is spent talking. Free to register. Register with Better Together.

Jacksonville Job Fair at the Jacksonville Marriott — Thursday, October 22

11:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. | Jacksonville Marriott, 4670 Salisbury Road, Jacksonville, FL 32256

Same morning as Gateway to Heaven, fifteen miles south in the Deerwood corridor off J. Turner Butler Boulevard. Best Hire Career Fairs runs this one as a conventional general-audience floor, free for job seekers, with the organizer booking employers from logistics and distribution, finance and insurance, health care, advanced manufacturing, IT, retail and customer service. No employer roster has been published yet. Space is limited, so register free ahead of time. The Gateway to Heaven and Marriott fairs overlap by two hours, so pick one. → See details

Career Connect at the St. Johns County Career Center — Thursday, October 22

10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. | CareerSource NEFL St. Johns County Career Center, 525 State Road 16, Suite 109, St. Augustine, FL 32084

The third October 22 option, and the short drive if you live in St. Johns County. The organizer lists HotelPro for housekeeping and American In-Home Care for registered nurses and certified nursing assistants doing hourly in-home care. It is open to all, veterans are especially encouraged, and there are one-on-one resume reviews. Registration is required, along with a full Employ Florida registration. Event page from CareerSource Northeast Florida.

Career Connect at the Gateway Career Center — Tuesday, October 27

10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. | CareerSource NEFL Gateway Career Center, 5000 Norwood Ave., Suite 2, Jacksonville, FL 32208

A short, targeted Northside recruitment with three named employers: Jacksonville Fire and Rescue for firefighters, Stellar Energy for electrical manufacturing associates and a materials clerk, and MasterCorp for housekeepers. The firefighter table is for people who already hold the required certifications, so read the details before you go. It is open to all, veterans are especially encouraged, and there are one-on-one resume reviews. Registration is required, along with a full Employ Florida registration. Event page from CareerSource Northeast Florida. → See details

JobNewsJacksonville.com Job Fair — Wednesday, October 28

10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. | DoubleTree by Hilton Jacksonville Riverfront, 1201 Riverplace Blvd., Jacksonville, FL 32207

The organizer behind the September 17 fair comes back to the same Southbank hotel for a second fall date. Four hours, free admission and free parking, open to everyone. The employer list goes up the Friday before, October 23, so check it before you plan your route around the floor. Event details from the organizer. → See details

UF Jacksonville Physicians Hiring Event — Thursday, October 29

10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. | UF Health Jacksonville, 580 W. 8th St., Jacksonville, FL 32209

A single-employer healthcare event with on-site interviews, on the 8th Street campus just north of downtown off I-95. University of Florida Jacksonville Physicians, Inc. names 22 featured roles on its flyer, from registered nurses, LPNs, medical assistants, phlebotomists and imaging technologists to referral coordinators, billing and insurance specialists and office managers, so plenty of these openings need no clinical license. CareerSource lists the second-floor conference room in Tower II, while the employer's flyer names a room in Tower I, so call (904) 244-0411 before you go. A full Employ Florida registration is required. Event page from CareerSource Northeast Florida. → See details

Paycheck for Patriots Career Fair — Tuesday, November 10

10:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. | FSCJ Advanced Technology Center, 401 W. State St., Jacksonville, FL 32202

The day before Veterans Day, CareerSource Northeast Florida and FSCJ hold the season's big veteran-focused hiring fair downtown. The 2026 listing describes it as supporting veterans, military spouses and their families, and last year's edition in the same building drew more than 100 public and private employers. No 2026 employer roster has been published. A full Employ Florida registration is required, and if you have no military connection, call (904) 356-5627 before you make the trip. Event page from CareerSource Northeast Florida. → See details

🎓 Students and Grads

The University of North Florida runs a dense fall fair schedule at the Adam W. Herbert University Center on the Southside campus, from an Accounting and Finance fair on September 16 through a Physical Therapy fair on November 4, with a STEM and Construction fair on September 29, a Business fair and a School of Communication internship fair on September 30, and nursing and behavioral sciences fairs on October 1. These are for UNF students and alumni only, not the general public. The alumni line is the useful part: if you graduated from UNF and are quietly looking, you still qualify.

🔎 How to Pick the Right Ones

Nobody needs to attend every one of these. Sort yourself in ten seconds:

  • Widest range of industries in one room: October 22 at the Jacksonville Marriott or October 28 at the DoubleTree Riverfront.
  • You want to know who is actually there before you go: October 22 at Gateway to Heaven or October 27 on Norwood Avenue. Both have published their employer lists.
  • You have a record: October 22 at Gateway to Heaven. Better Together recruits second-chance employers on purpose.
  • Veterans, military spouses and their families: November 10 at FSCJ downtown.
  • Healthcare, clinical or office side: October 29 at UF Health Jacksonville on West 8th Street.
  • Nursing, home health or housekeeping: October 20 in Yulee, October 22 in St. Augustine, October 27 on Norwood Avenue or October 29 on West 8th Street. Register with Employ Florida first.
  • Certified firefighter, or a manufacturing background: October 27 on Norwood Avenue, for Jacksonville Fire and Rescue and Stellar Energy.
  • No car, or you are downtown: November 10 at FSCJ on West State Street.
  • English is your second language: October 22 at Gateway to Heaven. Better Together recruits employers who can hire you.

💵 What Changes on September 30

Florida's minimum wage rose from $14.00 to $15.00 an hour on Wednesday, September 30, 2026. Tipped employees' direct wage rose the same day from $10.98 to $11.98 plus tips, because the $3.02 tip credit is fixed by statute.

This was the final scheduled step of Amendment 2, the constitutional change Florida voters approved in November 2020. After this one, the rate no longer jumps a dollar a year. It gets adjusted for inflation instead, which historically means increases measured in cents.

Two things worth knowing. First, Jacksonville cannot set its own minimum wage. Florida law preempts city and county minimum wage ordinances, so Duval, Clay, Nassau and St. Johns counties are all held to the same state floor, and no local ordinance is coming to change that. Second, the number that applies to you is set by the address where you physically do the work, not where you live and not where your employer is headquartered. That matters for anyone working across the Georgia line, where the floor is a very different story.

Practically: from September 30 on, any hourly rate under $15.00 is below Florida's floor. If a fair table quotes you $14.50 for an October start, that is below the legal floor on the day you would start. Say so.

What to Bring to Any of Them

  • Printed resumes, more than you think you need
  • Photo ID, and your Employ Florida login for the CareerSource events
  • Licenses and certifications: CDL, TWIC card, food handler, security license, nursing license
  • Open availability you can state plainly, including whether you can work nights
  • A short self-introduction you have actually said out loud
  • A notebook, so you can write down names and follow up within 48 hours

What It Means for Job Seekers

Jacksonville's job market is churning underneath a fairly quiet headline. Unemployment across Northeast Florida was 4.9 percent in July 2026, up from 4.3 percent a year earlier. But the composition is the real story. Over the twelve months through June, education and health services grew 5.3 percent in this metro and professional and business services grew 2.1 percent, while financial activities fell 5.4 percent, information fell 4.2 percent and government fell 3.1 percent. In a city built on financial back-office work, finance is now the worst-performing sector on the board and health care is the best. If you are in a bank operations or insurance processing role and things feel thin, that is not your imagination. There are two solid pieces of good news to work with: Winn-Dixie's parent kept its headquarters here in exchange for adding 200 jobs by 2031 at an average wage above $100,000, and in late August the City Council voted 18-0 to require companies taking city incentive grants to make a good-faith effort to fill at least 10 percent of new positions with veterans and active-duty military spouses.

Start here:

Frequently Asked Questions

Are Jacksonville job fairs free?

No event on this list has published an admission fee for job seekers, and most say plainly that they are free. The CareerSource events require a free Employ Florida registration, and the Better Together and Best Hire fairs ask you to register in advance, also free.

Which fall job fair has the most employers?

The September 17 JobNewsJacksonville.com fair at the DoubleTree was the largest general-audience event so far this fall. Of the dates still ahead, the October 22 fair at the Jacksonville Marriott and the October 28 JobNewsJacksonville.com fair back at the DoubleTree are the general-audience options, and the November 10 Paycheck for Patriots fair drew more than 100 employers last year. The October 22 Gateway to Heaven fair and the October 27 Gateway Career Center event have published their employer names.

Do I need to register in advance?

For the CareerSource events, yes, and you need an active Employ Florida account. For the Better Together fairs, registration is requested and free. The October 22 Marriott fair recommends free advance registration because space is limited.

When does Florida's minimum wage go to $15?

It went to $15.00 on Wednesday, September 30, 2026. The tipped direct wage went from $10.98 to $11.98 on the same day, since the $3.02 tip credit is fixed.

Can Jacksonville set a higher minimum wage than the state?

No. Florida law preempts local minimum wage ordinances, so Jacksonville and the surrounding counties are held to the state rate.

Will more events be added?

Yes. CareerSource Northeast Florida and local colleges post events on a few weeks of notice. We update this guide as new dates are confirmed.

Don't Rely on Showing Up

A calendar of fairs is a good start and not a job search. Create a free LocalJobPage account and set alerts so new Jacksonville openings reach you between fairs.

Employers: a table at a fair reaches the people who showed up that day. Post your openings on LocalJobPage and reach Jacksonville job seekers every day of the season.

Related Reading

Armsdale Road, North Pearl, Salisbury Road, Norwood Avenue, West 8th Street and West State Street. One raise on the last day of September, and a whole lot of tables between here and Veterans Day.

Updated October 17, 2026: added the UF Jacksonville Physicians hiring event on Oct. 29 at UF Health Jacksonville and the Paycheck for Patriots Career Fair on Nov. 10 at FSCJ downtown. The Oct. 22 Gateway to Heaven fair has named its employers. Updated October 10, 2026: added the October 27 Career Connect hiring event at the Gateway Career Center on Norwood Avenue and the October 28 JobNewsJacksonville.com Job Fair at the DoubleTree Riverfront. Updated October 2, 2026: added the October 14 Career Connect hiring event at the Southside Career Center on Beach Boulevard, the October 20 HotelPro recruitment at the Nassau County Career Center in Yulee, and the October 22 Career Connect event at the St. Johns County Career Center in St. Augustine. Updated September 29, 2026: added the October 22 Jacksonville Job Fair at the Jacksonville Marriott on Salisbury Road. The October 1 Gardenview Baptist and October 15 San Marco fairs have named their employers.

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