On Wednesday, March 18th, Green Level High School hosted its part-time job fair during lunch near the commons area, bringing 19 companies to the school looking for part-time and summer student employees. The first day of the job fair was originally planned for Monday, the 16th, but school was closed due to bad weather. This led to some companies like Costco, Two Men and a Truck, Paragon, and Sheetz not coming at all. Others like Aquatic Management Group and Pool Professionals were able to reschedule and come to the school on Wednesday instead. The event was set up so students could move between tables and talk directly to employers to ask any questions they may have and learn more about each job.
Some companies that attended the fair on Wednesday were the YMCA, Bojangles, Seastone Retirement Community, Goldfish Swim Expert Aquatics, Altitude Trampoline Park, SafeSplash Swim School, and Apex Racing. The types of employers there give a good representation of the types of jobs available for high schoolers, such as food service, retail, childcare, and recreation-based work.
Unlike applying online, the job fair allows students to have direct conversations with employers, giving them the chance to ask about scheduling, responsibilities (the actual job), and pay, even hiring preference. Students who wanted to apply were told how or were encouraged to follow up after the event.
“I think one of the hardest things is getting that first job, it can be stressful to think like how do I reach out to somebody, how do I contact somebody, how do I present myself to show I’m interested in that position or job,” said Green Level’s career development coordinator, Mr. McAuliffe, when asked about the purpose of the fair. “So my idea was kinda simplify it and bring in some jobs and companies, or even if someone ended up not working for one of those, they got practice speaking to someone, learning about a job opening and kind of preparing to have that first interview.”
Part-time jobs are important for high schoolers. More than earning money, they provide early work experience and help build a resume. A part-time job teaches time management, particularly when balancing school, extracurricular activities, and work schedules. For many students, it is their first introduction to a work environment and independence.
“Another reason we did it is a lot of times companies will say that they feel like in a big job fair they get overshadowed by colleges or other things that are there like a career and college fair,” McAuliffe said. “So I really wanted it narrowly focused, so that we knew you’re coming to the speakers, you’re looking for a job.”
A benefit of keeping the event focused only on part-time jobs while in high school is that students are coming for one thing, and employers are able to connect directly with students looking for work.
The different employers allowed students to compare different types of work environments. Fast-paced, customer-focused jobs like food service and retail and community organizations and aquatics often include leadership and working with young kids. This gives students more insight into what each role involves and what best fits their interests.
“I did massive outreach, I think I sent probably 700 emails over the past couple of months, I did some walk-ins at different places with flyers, so it’s whoever signed up,” McAuliffe said. “If businesses were interested, and they felt like they had seasonal or part-time jobs to give to our students, I wasn’t going to turn any places down. We definitely had overrepresentation from certain industries, lots of swimming places and lifeguarding, but that’s where a lot of the seasonal jobs are,”
This also explains why some industries showed up more than others. Instead of ensuring a balance in who’s coming, the goal was to bring in as many real job opportunities as possible, even if that meant certain types of jobs were more common.
Hosting the event during lunch made it accessible to the whole school. Even students not planning to apply could still talk to employers and better understand the hiring process and what steps they would need to take in the future.
“For me it was about spreading that awareness, and my hope is that every year it will continue to grow, so last year we had 11 companies come, we had 19 this year, so my hope is over time we’ll just continue to grow and get the word out to companies,” McAuliffe said. “And another idea I hope to do next year is have a fall volunteer fair, where we have organizations that are looking for volunteers and they can come and students can find out about different organizations they can volunteer with.”
The part-time job fair was both a hiring opportunity and an introduction to the workforce. By connecting students directly with employers, the fair helped students gain experience, develop responsibility, and better prepare for their careers later in the future.
