Teens turn in resumes, interview at Youth Job Fair at Oroville venue
OROVILLE >> Thomas Leavenworth arrived Tuesday at the Youth Job Fair at the Municipal Auditorium clean, neatly dressed and with his resume in hand hoping to score a job with one of the seven businesses set up for interviews.
“I’d like to get a job with Live Spot, Feather River Recreation and Park District or the Butte County Office of Education. Something that lets me interact with people. I’m a people person. And also lets me work with my hands but not manual labor,” said Leavenworth, 16.
The 17th Youth Job Fair was co- sponsored this year by Oroville YMCA and the Live Spot, a youth center and program for sixth through 12th grade students managed by the Butte County Department of Behavioral Health. The Boys and Girls Clubs of the North Valley Oroville Teen Center and the Axiom Youth Center were also partnering in the event.
“I love this event. We always end up hiring from it and not just for seasonal work. We’ve hired for long term positions and some of those hires are still working with us,” said Christina Chavez, behavioral health education specialist with Live Spot.
Employers participating in the fair included Live Spot, YMCA, Feather River Recreation and Park District, KFC, Round Table Pizza, Panda Express, and Butte County Office of Education. The latter four were new to the fair this year.
Victoria Anton, FRRPD executive administrator, said the recreation department was having a “huge challenge” this year filling seasonal job positions.
“We may not be able to reopen the Palermo Pool if we don’t have enough staff. This (staff shortages) seems to be the trend all over the country so I am assuming COVID plays a role,” said Anton.
The main positions available for students to interview for with FRRPD included lifeguard, camp leaders, gymnastics coaches, softball umpires and facility attendants.
“The fair has been a success for us in the past especially for seasonal positions so I’m hoping to interview some good candidates today,” said Anton.
Sara Pierce, YMCA program director, echoed Anton saying the YMCA relies on the Youth Fair every year for seasonal hires. Tuesday afternoon Pierce had 20 jobs open for student application.
“We’re excited to be cosponsoring the fair this year, providing this opportunity to the youth in our area,” said Pierce.
While the employer turnout was “about average,” there were about 20 job- seeking students in attendance. In 2019, the last time the fair was held, 80 students came in search of employment.
“My guesses about the lower turnout are that not everything is open, because of COVID there still might be some reluctance, and now that the students have returned to in-person school they have signed up for sports,” Jennifer Skinner, supervising behavioral health education specialist with Live Spot.
The fair opened with Skinner and Chavez giving a short “tips and hints for interviewing” presentation to the students. This was followed with time for the prospective employees to fill out job applications. Staff from the sponsoring partners were on hand to assist students in this process and provide interviewing coaching.
Once their paperwork was completed, the students approached the employers to schedule interview times during the afternoon event.
Angelica Martinez-Palomino, a Las Plumas High School senior said previously she has only applied for jobs online, never in person and her mom helped her prepare a resume for the fair.
“I’d like to join the YMCA — maybe a maintenance job. It sounds interesting, and I could improve my skills. I’d like to communicate better,” said Martinez-Palomino, 17.