The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
STUDENTS NETWORK
Nearly 1,000 high schoolers talk with 60 potential employers at Career Fair
“It is about making those connections with the kids and helping kids develop what their network is.” — Ed Klein, assistant superintendent for Chardon
The number of students who attended the first Chardon High School Career Fair was nearly double what organizers expected. Approximately 500 students were expected to attend, but that number was exceeded within the first couple of hours of the event as students took advantage of the opportunity to talk and network with more than 60 potential employers in the medical, technology, manufacturing industries and the Armed Forces.
The career fair which was a collaboration between Chardon High School, Ohio Means Jobs, Chardon Area Chamber of Commerce, RB Sigma Inc., and the Alliance for Working Together, was held for two purposes.
One was to give sevenththrough 10th-grade students the opportunity to network in a structured manner; the other was to give 11th- and 12th-graders the opportunity to network and interview for available jobs and internships.
The event also gave the students the chance to see what jobs and what job search resources are available.
Today’s graduating students have access to search tools and opportunities that didn’t exist a decade ago.
“It is about making those connections with the kids and helping kids develop what their network is,” said Ed Klein, assistant superintendent for the Chardon School District said.
Klein recalls a time 25 years ago when for most young adults it was a situation of graduating high school and having a piece of paper but not knowing what to do at that point in time.
“Now, we want to help kids understand that there are opportunities out there,” Klein said. “We are trying to help kids to understand that there are good careers in manufacturing. We are trying to start that networking in the middle grades so that when they get into high school we can set up those internships.
“As an adult it has taken me a career to develop my own network, but now kids are able to set up a network a lot earlier.”
Ohio Means Jobs has a special section online for students where students can start doing career exploration. There also is a career center available to them.
There are full-time career instructors who are available free of charge to help students do a resume, search for jobs or prepare for an interview, according to Mandy Monroe of Ohio Means Jobs, Geauga County.
“The best way for them though is still that one-onone at networking events like this,” Monroe said.
She also believes that networking sites such as LinkedIn and the on-line career center through Ohio Means Jobs are great places for students to go.
On sites like these, students can do career assessments and career exploration to see what type of industry they are interested in. Then they can target networking events they would like to attend.
One of the fastest-growing industries with a high need for skilled employees to work with new technology appears to be manufacturing.
“I’m hearing across the board there is a need in technology and they are providing the training for kids,” “Klein said.
Steve Catt, the deputy director of workforce development for Advanced Robotics for Manufacturing, believes that manufacturers are crying for skilled robotics technicians.
“There are not enough of them nationwide now or in the future...there is always going to be a job,” Catt said.
According to Susan Foltz, director of the Manufacturing Extension Partnership, computer programming has changed a lot in the past decade.
“It’s robotics programming. It’s not just your basic computing anymore,” Foltz said. “A lot of manufacturers use virtual reality in training and a lot of that is new technology that they (the students) are growing up. It’s not that dirty dark environment in manufacturing anymore, it is a new type of manufacturing environment.”
Even the Armed Services are seeing a change in jobs available. The U.S. Marines now offer over 300 different jobs, according to Staff Sgt. Miguel Tavarez Jr.
“We have a lot of cybersecurity jobs in the Marine Corps that applies to any company in the United States,” Tavarez said. “Any company that has a server they are using for something has someone that is running security for that server to make sure their data doesn’t get hacked. I think that is one of the fastest growing fields in the Marine Corps right now and in all the services in the United States.”