Employers Recruit Teen Workers at Annual Job Fair

The annual job fair, an interactive meet-and-greet with local companies who wish to hire high school students, is scheduled to take place in the cafeteria on March 19 at 3:30 p.m.  The vent will be sponsored by NOVA Works, a company dedicated to helping adults and teens alike find jobs.

“Our goal is to provide opportunities for youth and give employees the benefits of youth participation in their business,” NOVA manager Chris Familetti said. “We are expecting great success for this year and hope that the students come and see what there is to offer.”

According to junior Star Cappal, for students looking for jobs in the area, the job fair is a promising place to receive employment from local vendors.

“[Last year], I was able to fill out an application right there and get a job interview with Great America,” Star said. “[The job fair] is a great opportunity and people should take advantage of it being right here.”

College/Career Center Coordinator Kristin Joseph is one of the organizers of the project and is just starting to receive the names of companies who have committed to be at the fair.

“Starbucks, Jamba Juice, Baskin Robbins and Mountain View Recreation are only a few of the local companies that will be there,” Joseph said. “Application forms will be right there so students can sign up for jobs right then.”

Junior Alisa Raynor, who attended the fair as a sophomore, is not looking forward to revisiting the “chaos.”

“It just felt really overwhelming and unorganized last year,” Alisa said. “There were no signs and tables for specific jobs. It was all jumbled around.”

Alisa also felt that the jobs only catered to some students, as there is an age requirement for many of them.

“Most jobs required you to be a certain age, like 16, which is a problem for a lot of freshmen and sophomores,” Alisa said.

However, the drive for a job and money, even if it means waiting until one is the right age, continues to keep people flocking to the event year after year.

“I think I will definitely go and look around,” sophomore Sara Raza said. “It will give me a good idea of what’s out there. I’ll need a job soon, so it’s a good idea to shop around.”

Freshman Greg Dwull is also looking forward to visiting the job fair, having never heard of anything quite like it before.

“I’ve never heard of it,” Greg said. “It sounds really cool, though. I’ll go and see what my options are.”

Even with high unemployment rates throughout the United States, the fair is still expected to be a success.

“[The unemployment rates] we’ve seen this year shouldn’t affect the job fair,” Joseph said. “Employers want to employ high school students. We don’t have a final count yet, but we expect the same amount of employers or more to show up.”