Stories from the Field: West Hawaiʻi Inaugural Finale Event & Hiring Blitz
Remember looking for your first job? Maybe you felt excited, scared, or a whole range of emotions. The transition from high school is a major decision point, whatever the next step may be. Many young people have anxieties about the future. They don’t know how they can succeed in a challenging world with plenty of career possibilities but not much career stability. They hear from their families and society that it’s hard to survive, especially here in Hawaiʻi. (You can look at some island-specific work and cost-of-living projections at https://www.hawaiiwork.org/workforce-understory-hawaii-island).
At the same time, local employers have difficulty hiring qualified local employees. In many cases, they are willing to help build people up, or talk to them early so they can make smart education and training choices that will prepare them to be qualified candidates in the future. We met many such people at a career exposure fair/hiring blitz that addressed both student and employer needs very efficiently.
The event
We are always excited to volunteer with the West Hawai‘i Department of Education for their often innovative college, career, and training exploration events. This time, ClimbHI was the main partner, hosting a career fair focused on helping seniors (although juniors were also included, for a total of ~120 students from 6 high schools in North and West Hawai‘i) make connections to take their next steps for after graduation.
This was our second time at a ClimbHI career exposure event, and we appreciated how this ‘hiring blitz’ version evolved by adding a separate room partitioned just for interviews. Recruiters and students could use these areas to speak privately, allowing students (and eager companies, agencies, and schools) to get students through more sign-on steps right away.
The event kicked off with BLITZ instructions: Be present, Learn about opportunities, Interact, Take action, and Zeal!
With over 40 partners involved, there were plenty of options for employment, apprenticeship, enlistment, college, and vocational training. Fields such as healthcare, banking, construction, government, hospitality, military, law enforcement, conservation, aviation, engineering, and technology were all well-represented. Multiple colleges attended, as well as two groups of teen college counselors from local high schools that helped students apply for scholarships and explore even more schools.
Tables setting up before students arrived
Throughout the event, I heard of several successful interviews and hirings. Congratulations to the students! Recruiters were impressed with how professionally the young people presented themselves and came prepared with resumes and plans. Many of the students already held jobs, and some had years of work experience, but there were plenty of truly entry level opportunities for those just starting out. There should be many more successes later, after recruiters get the chance to follow up with interested prospects.
Putting the follow-up onto the recruiters is a helpful approach because some young people might be overwhelmed with who to follow up with after attending a big event like this. Some feel insecure about contacting the people they met, or have trouble completing online applications. A relatively common issue is giving up at the ‘previous experience’ section if they don’t have professional experiences or references. Another common stopping point is assuming they should not apply if they do not meet all of the job requirements. When the recruiter reaches out to them, however, students know that people want to help them get hired or enrolled.
Sign up for ClimbHI!
Maybe you’d like to help students feel valued for their professional and academic capabilities? Although big events like this are impactful, there are plenty of ways to connect with this work throughout the year. We were excited to help spread the word about ClimbHI several years ago, and they’re still providing great opportunities for Hawaii students on their ClimbHI Bridge website, including smaller opportunities. Businesses, nonprofits, and other entities are always welcome to inquire about signing up. The greater the range of industries, the better! Once onboard, you can look out for opportunities posted by schools, teachers, and bigger collaborative events like this one.
Even if you don’t sign on to ClimbHI, you can connect with schools directly to offer things like internships, guest speaking, and hosting field trips.
If you can hire students and recent graduates, do your best to help them succeed. They might benefit from flexible scheduling, as well as more opportunities to ask for help and feedback. They might be wonderful contributors that face challenges they have little control over, like significant responsibilities at home or unreliable access to transportation.
As a starting point, you can look at these slides about providing internships from Vibrant Hawaiʻi.
Mahalo
This event was planned by ClimbHI and the West Hawaiʻi Department of Education, and physically hosted by the Westin Hapuna. Many thanks thanks go to all of the people that came to host tables, engage with students, and help with their “chance for choice.” We are so grateful that there are so many people in our community (and some that flew in!) to help students learn about and get started on their next steps for life after high school, wherever their paths might go. Mahalo also to Kohala Coast Community Fund and Mauna Kea Resort for helping to sponsor!
