The Youth Job Center hosted its largest job fair to date Thursday afternoon with over 500 jobseekers and 25 employers.
The employers present represented a wide range of industry sectors and all had multiple job openings and were ready to hire.
“The line of job-seekers waiting to enter the job fair extended out the door,” says Jordan Burghardt, the center’s employer outreach coordinator. “Though that certainly speaks to the dire employment situation out there, the good news is our job fair actually had employers present with jobs available.”
The employers present included Amtrak, North Shore Community Bank, Mather Lifeways, Starbucks, Nordstrom, Allied Barton Security Systems, Advance Auto Parts and more.
The job fair, held in the community room of the Evanston Public Library, was open to anyone 16 years or older. Available jobs ranged from entry level positions perfect for a 16 year old to those that required experience and were targeted to jobseekers 18 years or older.
“The Youth Job Center values its employer partners and understands the need to provide job-ready youth to fill their needs,” states YJC Executive Director, Sacella Smith. “The fact that we had 25 employers at our job fair, all with job openings, demonstrates that opportunities do exist. And a lot of those opportunities were realized yesterday at the job fair.”
The Youth Job Center is a nonprofit agency in Evanston that assist job seekers ages 14-25 in finding employment. The YJC also works employers to help them meet their staffing needs by referring applicants who are trained in basic job skills and ready to get to work.