Eager applicants flock to community job fair

Kevin Salley, 52, attend on Oct. 10, 2018 jobs fair on the Far South Side after being laid off from his laborer job with the city's Streets And Sanitation Department. Photo by Wendell Hutson
Kevin Salley, 52, attend on Oct. 10, 2018 jobs fair on the Far South Side after being laid off from his laborer job with the city's Streets And Sanitation Department. Photo by Wendell Hutson

Eager applicants flock to community job fair

BY WENDELL HUTSON, Contributing Writer

A recent jobs fair hosted by a Southside church attracted more than 100 applicants from the Chicago area including some as far away as Indiana, whose goal was to secure new opportunities to provide for their families.

The four-hour jobs fair at Sheldon Heights Church of Christ, 11325 S. Halsted St., was held in collaboration with the Washington Heights Workforce Center, and that’s where Latonya Grake went looking for a job.

“I heard there would be manufacturing jobs here so that’s why I came,” explained Grake, 30, a single mother living in East Chicago, Indiana. “I have worked as a machine operator and forklift driver, so blue-collar work is what I like most.”

Since August, Grake said she has been unemployed mainly due to a lack of transportation.

“I do not have a car and it has been difficult finding jobs accessible by public transportation,” she said “But a few of the companies here said it provides free transportation for employees to and from the work site. For me, that’s a big help.”

Transportation was why Sheldon Heights decided to host a job fair in Roseland on the Far South Side, according to Richard Hart, chairman of the Employment Ministry at Sheldon Heights.

“We know people sometimes do not feel comfortable looking for employment elsewhere but would do so in their own neighborhood,” said Hart. “A church should always be looking for way to help people. And at Sheldon Heights that’s what we strive to do each and everyday.”

First Class Staffing, an employment agency, was among the companies at the job fair. It provides free transportation to low-income individuals. Other employers at the fair providing free transportation were UPS, which was looking to hire up to 2,000 people by the end of the year. The U.S. Army, Ozinga, Chicago Lighthouse, and Roseland Community Hospital were other employers also at the fair.

One job seeker, Kevin Salley, attended the job fair after hearing about it from his mother-in-law, who is a member of Sheldon Heights.

“She (Zola Upchurch) told me about the fair and I need a job so here I am,” said South Shore resident Salley, 52. “I have been unemployed for about a year. Previously I was a laborer with the city’s Streets and Sanitation Department and worked for them five years. There are some good companies here and I am feeling confident I will leave here employed.”

Unlike most job fairs where company representatives attend to collect resumes to pass on to hiring managers, Dallas Gordon, operations manager for the WHWC, said his organization sponsors hiring events.

“This is not a jobs fair but a hiring event,” explained Gordon. “A hiring event does on the spot interviews for open positions where as jobs fair do not. We have people being interviewed today for actual positions and not being told to go online to apply.”

Gordon added that transportation is not the only job barrier for low-income applicants.

“Sometimes an applicant may not have appropriate clothing to wear to an interview so we try to provide clothing for them,” said Gordon.

“Then there’s creating a good resume to catch an employer’s attention when reading it. There’s also etiquette and communication because some people don’t know it’s rude to answer your phone during an interview or to send an resume using an inappropriate email name (e.g. big booty tracy. com).”

For these reasons, the WHWC conducted a two-hour job readiness workshop on Oct. 5 at its office, 10325 S. Halsted St., to prepare applicants for the hiring event.

Some employers echoed the same sentiment as Gordon as far as common mistakes made by applicants “Presentation is key to finding a job and if you show up dressed inappropriately, that could hurt your chances of getting hired,” said Nouvell Lewis, senior recruiter for Roseland Community Hospital, who is looking to hire up to 20 registered nurses. “You only get one chance to make a first impression in person and on paper, so it’s essential that applicants proofread their resumes and cover letters.”

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