ENGLEWOOD — Nearly 1,000 young job applicants showed up at a career fair in Englewood on Wednesday in hopes of getting hired on the spot.
Kennedy-King College hosted the event for the first time on its campus at 6301 S. Halsted St.
The fair is hosted by the 100,000 Opportunities Initiative, a coalition of leading U.S.-based companies committed to training and hiring young adults 16-24, who are out of school and not working.
Starbucks helped form the initiative in 2015, along with a commitment to hire 10,000 “opportunity youth” — those from low-income communities— by 2018. It announced in March it exceeded that goal, having already reached 40,000. The new goal has been set for 100,000 hires by 2020.
The 100,000 Opportunities Initiative organized a hiring event for teens and young adults. [Chicago Event Photography]
[Chicago Event Photography]
Employers included T-Mobile, Whole Foods, FedEx and Five Guys. There were about 20 ables with recruiters.
The event was led by Thrive Chicago and the Chicago Cook Workforce Partnership.
Many of the applicants said they learned about the event either through their school or a workforce development organization.
Computer labs were open for job seekers to use during the hiring event. [DNAinfo/Andrea V. Watson]
One unique thing about this hiring event were the numerous resources readily available for attendees such as a computer lab where they could apply for jobs online. They could print out resumes and receive help with that and the application.
There were people available to assist those who had questions about expunging criminal records. Trained volunteers assisted with mock interviews.
There was even a room with donated dress clothes and shoes for those who didn’t have professional attire to wear. Mercedes Johnson, 18, took advantage of that. She said she learned about the hiring event the day before and didn’t have enough time to find something nice.
“I wasn’t prepared, but I’m glad they had everything laid out,” she said, adding that the event was great.
Another job applicant, Chatham resident Darrius Robinson, said he came because a friend told him about the event. The 24-year-old planned to apply everywhere, so he arrived at 9 a.m.
He said he was grateful to have a place to print out his resume.
“It’s nice and really organized, and it feels like you’re actually getting something accomplished,” he said.
He said the convenience of everything they offered was “the best” and “it doesn’t get any easier than this.”
Karin Norington-Reaves, CEO of Chicago Cook Workforce Partnership, said the hiring event is sort of a “one-stop-shop” for job seekers. If they’re not at the hiring level, they have community partners who can help them there.
This event also is about highlighting an unemployment issue while addressing it, Norington-Reaves said.
“It’s really about opening the eyes of corporate America to the national challenge we have,” she said. “We have 18- to 24-year-olds across the country who are neither engaged in work nor education. And right here in Cook County and the City of Chicago, we have just under 90,000 young people who are both out of work and out of school. So this is our effort to address that.”
Amrit Mehra, manager of Workforce Initiatives for Thrive Chicago, said the nearly two dozen community partners it works with can assist with child care, housing and more.
“We know coming to a one-day event isn’t going to be the thing that fundamentally changes your life, but one of the taglines for this initiative is to 'start somewhere,’ so the idea is that you want to make that first step,” he said.
