For students across Evanston, the summer job hunt has begun.
With clipboards and applications in hand, students lined the stairwells of the Lorraine H. Morton Civic Center, 2100 Ridge Ave., on Saturday. Dressed in their best attire, they waited anxiously to impress potential employers.
An estimated 400 students from the city’s middle schools and Evanston Township High School participated in the 18th annual Summer Youth Employment Program Job Fair, which attracted employers from local businesses and several city departments to interview students for summer jobs.
The fair was part of the Mayor’s Summer Youth Employment Program, a nine-week program started in 1992 that helps teenagers find part-time and full-time jobs in the summer. Employment opportunities include office assistance, computer/software installation, data entry, reception, camp counseling and food service.
This summer, the program will help about 150 students find jobs, fair manager Cam Herth said.
“We focus on Evanston youth because we’re trying to make an impact on Evanston,” he said. “We are channeling limited resources in what we believe to be our greatest resource.”
Any student between the ages of 14 and 18 with a minimum 2.0 grade point average is eligible to fill out an application, attend the fair and interview with employers. The grade requirement reinforces the importance of academics, Herth said.
“Academic success is directly connected to youth development and occupational success,” he said, adding that successful youths are an asset for the city. “We’re cultivating future leaders for Evanston.”
Karen Hansen, an employer from the Evanston Public Library, 1703 Orrington Ave., said she sought motivated, independent and organized students.
“We have many needs that aren’t necessarily met by paid or volunteer staff,” she said. “The program not only benefits us but the kids, and the interviewing process gives them an entry point into the real world.”
ETHS student Tiffany Rowley said the fair not only helped her obtain a job at a summer camp last year but also taught her how to present herself in an interview.
“This program helps a lot of teenagers get jobs and teaches them how to be more like an adult,” she said.
Though not all students will receive jobs through the fair, Herth said the program keeps a database of applications and has connections with other employment services in the city, like the Youth Job Center of Evanston, to help rejected applicants eventually find employment.
The program has recently established a service and employment club at ETHS to sustain relationships with students during the school year.
“We only get the youth for the summer, and after that our connection with them is interrupted,” Herth said. “We have to continue these relationships year-round.”[email protected]
