On April 21, Linganore (LHS), Urbana (UHS) and Oakdale (OHS) high schools hosted a job fair for their students, providing them an opportunity to apply and talk to employers for a part-time job, full-time job or volunteer experiences. Resumes were not required but were encouraged so that employers can see students’ strengths and weaknesses.
The job fair allows students to talk to the employers, ask questions about the commitments involved in the position and helps them get early job experience for college and their future.
The event was hosted because many high schoolers have struggled to find jobs because most companies do not want to hire teenagers and may hold negative opinions about them.
Sophomore Sadie Maxwell shared some of the misconceptions shared about teenagers in the workforce.
“They lack maturity, or they don’t have flexible enough hours because of school or school sports,” Maxwell said.
Despite these challenges, students are encouraged to apply to volunteer opportunities or part-jobs. These experiences can help high school students when applying for college by boosting their resume. Part-time jobs can also help them earn and learn about budgeting and how to manage their time while earning an income.
With this struggle in mind, LHS, UHS and OHS decided to host a job fair for all high school-aged students. The event was widely appreciated by the high school students who attended.
“I thought the job fair was a good idea; it opens you up to jobs that you might not have known they were hiring for your age group or in general,” said LHS sophomore Kaelyn Hanlon.
Some of the companies offering jobs in the fair include Sheetz gas station, Tree Trekkers, Texas Roadhouse, Dunkin’ Donuts, Jersey Mike’s, Adventure Park, Gaver Farms, YMCA, Rupper Landscaping and the New Market volunteer fire department. A lot of military and other volunteer opportunities were also available.
“I was interested in physical therapy the most, because that’s what I want to do as a career in the future,” said sophomore Felicity Schwartzback. “If I applied for the job, I would be helping out with the starting patients and helping clean some supplies after said appointments.”
Overall, the job fair was well-organized, each part-time job had a table they were assigned to and all the tables were in a circular shape to make it easier to navigate the fair. The event used a color-coding system to help connect prospective employees to each of the companies present. Each stand had a colored balloon hanging by it, with red meaning jobs will hire ages 15 and up, black meaning ages 16 and up can be hired, blue meaning the company will hire ages 17 and up and green meaning the company will only hire students 18 and older.
Overall, the job fair was a great opportunity for high school students to find companies that have job openings and volunteer opportunities.
“The job fair was a great experience. My friends and I are now able to start applying for part-time jobs that would actually consider hiring us. I am not currently applying for any part-time jobs however due to only being able to work in the summer but I still think it was a good opportunity to go,” says LHS sophomore, Sadie Maxwell.
