A young adult job fair offered by the Niles-Maine District Library will feature 11 area businesses. The Feb. 16 event takes place from 10 to 12:30 p.m. at the library at no cost and is open to drop-ins.
“They can get face time with people who are hiring or really interested in hiring,” said Donna Block, teen services librarian for Niles-Maine District Library. “For the employers, it’s good for them. It gives them a huge pool of applicants to go through. They can talk to people.”
The job fair targets anyone ages 15-24. For information, visit nileslibrary.org.
“I work with teens, so I’m always looking for ways to serve our patrons,” Block said. “I got the idea from other libraries in the Chicagoland area that have offered similar job fairs.”
She said different employers in the area had indicated they were looking to hire older teens.
“We know a lot of teenagers are graduating from high school and going to Oakton Community College, so they’re staying in the area,” Block said. “They’re still looking for jobs. There’s a need that we found in the community that wasn’t being filled by anybody else.”
Participating businesses include Home Depot, Taco Bell, Jewel-Osco, Aquaguard and more. Block encourages those attending the job fair to dress nicely in business casual attire.
Block said bringing a resume would be helpful and said they should also bring anything they need to fill out a job application. The event tends to bring in about 100, which Block said is a huge turnout for the library’s teen services department.
“Talking to people about it, they’re excited about it,” Block said. “For some of them, it might be their very first experience. It’s almost a mini job interview.”
Block said the event creates a space for young adults to talk with employers and review some of the questions they should ask in a job interview.
“This is a really good experience for them, if they’ve never done a job interview,” she said. “There’s isn’t the same kind of pressure. It makes a difference for them, and there’s less risk.”