As school draws to a close and the summer spreads out ahead of students, many teens are starting their first job search.
For the past five years, the Teen Job Fair in Williamsburg has been a resource where teenagers can not only connect with potential employers, but also practice interview skills and get feedback on resumes.
This year, Rachel Nelson, the teen librarian at the Williamsburg Regional Library who organizes the fair, had to move the event to a bigger location because it has become so popular in the local community.
“I think word of mouth builds every year,” Nelson said. “I work with teens as a part of my job and they’re all looking for jobs over the summer. My teen participation always dips when they get cars because they’re getting jobs, so I wanted to find another way to serve that population.”
Nelson said the idea came five years ago when she looked at other large teen job fairs on the Peninsula. Coming from a background in recruiting and human resources in secondary education, Nelson said she had been on the employers side at a lot of job fairs. That experience helped her realize the valuable resource a job fair for teenagers could be in the Williamsburg area.
Most of the jobs at the fair are related to the service and hospitality industry because there is a strong market for those types of part-time jobs in a tourist area like Williamsburg, Nelson said. While there seems to be a strong connection in the schools for internships and professional experiences, Nelson said she wanted to create a resource for different types of employment as well.
“I know the schools do a very good job of having career training and job readiness,” she said. “But I wanted them to have a place where they can find those seasonal jobs to make a little bit of money if they wanted to.”
The teen job fair doesn’t only equip participants with a summer job opportunity, it helps to teach them skills that would be valuable in any job interview, not just in the service industry.
“I think the skills they will get and the feedback will be applicable to any future job,” said Barry Trott, special projects director at the Williamsburg Regional Library. “Building those skills early and becoming comfortable to talk about accomplishments is a great skill to learn as a 16-year-old.”
Nelson said people younger than 16 are welcome to attend for practice but that most of the businesses at the fair will be looking for employees older than 16. While many of these teenagers might not have professional experience for their resume, Nelson said the fair allows them to learn how to convey what skills they have, whether through volunteering or schoolwork, that might make them stand out to an employer.
The key is always to make as many connections as possible with a sense of professionalism.
“These businesses have a lot of experience hiring young people,” she said. “They know they’re not looking for career jobs necessarily, but this works for both because it’s a one-stop-shop for employers and potential employees.”
Employers that will be present at the job fair include:
Anna’s Brick Oven, Autobell Car Wash, Barnes & Noble (Campus Store), Busch Gardens, Chain Breakers Warrior Academy, Chick-fil-A, Clearwater Pool Management, Doubletree Williamsburg, Harris Teeter, James City County Recreation, Kilwin’s, King’s Creek Plantation, McDonald’s, Riverside Health System/Patriot’s Colony, Water Country USA, Williamsburg KOA Campgrounds, Williamsburg Landing, Willkinson YMCA, and WISC.
The annual teen job fair will be on Thursday (April 25) from 5 to 7 p.m. at the Stryker Center in Williamsburg.
