TEMPLE, Texas — Students in the Temple High School Career and Technical Education (CTE) program had the opportunity to put their best foot forward during the program’s “Ready to Work” hiring event on Thursday (April 28).
Approximately 350 to 400 seniors participated in the event that also featured almost 40 different businesses or government entities looking to hire workers for a variety of positions. Several of those companies or agencies had multiple departments on hand. In addition to the chance to pass out resumes and make face-to-face contact with potential employers, there were also multiple companies doing interviews on the spot Thursday, making the event a unique opportunity for the students to get a big head start on their job searches.
“Any time students have opportunities to connect with employers, it is going to make it easier for them to get employed, and that is one of the main reasons we do this,” said Denise Ayres, director of CTE for TISD. “But it is just as beneficial for our employers because they are looking for good, quality employees, so it is the perfect connection. It makes it easy for our students to talk to a lot of businesses. It is great exposure and a great connection opportunity for our students and our employers.”
The Temple High School CTE program features 13 different career clusters. Students also have the opportunity to get hands-on work experience with some of the program’s professional partners, take dual credit courses, compete and participate in career and technical student organizations, and earn professional certifications before they graduate from high school. Students participating in the hiring fair were also excited about the chance to get in front of so many potential employers without having to leave campus.
“I was able to find a lot of jobs that I am interested in and even get an application,” Amadeus Chandler, a THS senior said. “Whenever you have a job fair like this during a class period, it makes it so much easier for everyone to get here. I was able to see what kind of options are available here in Temple and what might be out there for me after graduation.”
“I think it is pretty awesome,” THS senior Destiny Acosta said. “I’ve seen a couple of opportunities that I had never even thought about, so that has been a great learning experience.”
“I have a bunch of resumes and applications I need to send out now,” Marissa Rojo, another THS senior said. “I never knew there were so many different places you could apply, so that really stood out to me.”
This is the seventh annual CTE “Ready to Work” hiring event and the job fair has grown to the point that there is now a waiting list for participating business. For the businesses who’ve been involved from the beginning, the hiring fair is a tremendous opportunity to get the word out about their services and openings.
“It is all local kids that are aspiring for something as they look forward to graduating,” said Sarah Barr, practice manager for Animal Medical Care. “For our program specifically, we like to hire them for the summer to introduce them to the work force. It gives them a chance to get their feet wet and then we hope they keep coming back and once they finish with college, they know they have a friend in the area. We have had great success with our involvement. We know they are curious, and we just grab a hold of that and run with it.”
Employers participating in this year’s “Ready to Work” hiring event include: Animal Medical Care, Aries Buildings, multiple Bell County agencies, Baylor Scott and White, Butler Weldments, Carpenter Company, Cornerstone Gardens, Don Ringler Chevrolet, Emerson Construction Company, Inc., Express Employment Professionals, Focus ABA Therapy, Mayborn Civic and Convention Center, Glass Expanse, Great Clips, Hampton Inn, HEB Temple Retail Support Center, Hill and Wildinson, Hilton Garden Inn, Holiday Inn, Materials Transportation Company, McLane Company, Panel Specialist, Inc., Performance Food Group, Reynolds Consumer Products, Sunbelt-Solomon Solutions, Temple Army Career Center, Temple Fire and Rescue, Texas Hydraulics, Texas Machine Shop Hydraulics, Tru Belton I and II, UFP Construction, Whataburger, Wildflower Country Club, Wilsonart and Workforce Solutions Central Texas.