Posted by The Dean of Cincinnati

Photo courtesy of here.

Kudos to Mayor Mark Mallory for his youth job and opportunity fair yesterday at the Duke Energy Center.  The event was well organized and it provided over two thousand youth the chance to link up with area employers at a one-stop shop.  I think the job fair a great example of the kind of leadership one can exhibit through the position of Mayor, and I commend Mallory for the work he engaged to get employers to set up at the convention. 

It seems to me that this 3rd fair has reached a kind of critical mass, and that more people are finding out as the job fair has established itself as a reliable yearly event.  That is good, and the more our City’s youth know about and feel inspired to participate in an event like this, the more likely that people will find productive jobs which put them on track to improve not only themselves, but the City as a whole.

The fair was set up with several aisles, each featuring employers who had a nicely arranged display area.  The border surrounding these aisles were filled with round tables, on which people could fill out applications for turning in right on the spot.

Even before the fair began, a large crowd stood in line, waiting to get inside.  Several students wore school uniforms, and at least one school brought two bus loads of students as part of a school trip.

Here are my observations for making the event even better for the 4th fair next year.

1.  The Mayor should organize with all high schools in Cincinnati.  Perhaps it would be possible to start the event an hour earlier (at 1pm instead of 2pm), and schools could bus students down who wish to participate.  It would be a great partnership between schools, government, and business.

2.  Consider organizing jobs by age of employment.  For example, I was under the impression that the jobs were for those 16 and older.  But some jobs were for 14 year olds, some 15, and so forth.  If the layout were organized differently, schools could target age groups and help them navigate.

3.  The Mayor should develop a “universal application”?  Motivated youth could fill out several copies ahead of time, and with less time spent filling out applications, more time could be spent interacting with more jobs, and maybe even conducting on the spot interviews.

Thank you for reading (and printing from) The Cincinnati Beacon.