NEW PALESTINE — Leaders at Estes Design and Manufacturing, a sheet metal product engineering company, already have a handful of New Palestine High School graduates working for them.
It’s why when company officials were approached by business teacher Jeremy Large to be a part of a job fair he put together for students, they agreed to take part.
David DeBruyn, human resources manager for the business, said he was hoping to recruit a few more engineering students to join its workforce. The company, which works closely with Walker Career Center in Warren Township, where many NPHS students participate, noted that students who learn work-based skills in high school can jump right into the workforce.
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“I’d say eight out of 10 of the students we get stay with us for some time,” DeBruyn said.
The business was just one of more than 30 taking part in the school’s job fair in the school’s cafeteria on Wednesday, March 11. Large’s hope with the event was to help graduating seniors, juniors and any other students interested in exploring a career.
DeBruyn had several students approach him during the event because Estes Design and Manufacturing is able to offer young workers a good pay base for part-time employment that could lead to full-time work.
“They’re getting real-time experience, and we’re paying them 30% to 35% more than what they can make in another type of job,” he said.
Large invited businesses looking to hire young employees, but he also brought in human resources professionals able to offer tips to students on how to put together resumes and fill out applications. The experts also offered suggestions to the students about how to conduct themselves in job interviews.
“This is already five times larger than what we did last year,” Large said of his second attempt to help students find employment.
Large is the head of the school’s business department and knows giving students opportunities to get a summer job or full-time job after graduation is good for them, their families and the community. It’s also a great service for local companies looking to hire students for summertime work and beyond.
“We feel like we have a great product to offer companies with our students, so it’s nice to give them opportunities to see top-notch future employees,” Large said.
Addi Jones, a junior at NPHS, was hoping to land some summertime and maybe evening work hours through the school’s athletic department.
“This is definitely a good idea for students,” Addi said. “We can kind of go around and look and maybe find out some more details about what we might want to do.”
For students not sure about what profession they want to pursue, the job fair gave them a chance to ask representatives about internships, work, pay and benefits they have to offer teenagers.
The job fair was also ideal for those students who may not want to go on to college or a trade school, but are ready to jump right into the work force.
Officials with the YMCA after/before school and summer care programs set out two sheets for students to sign up for work. By the end of the job fair, both were full of names from young people looking for employment.
“We want the high school students especially for our summer program,” said Justice Curry of the YMCA.
While most of the students attending the event were seniors and juniors, sophomore Nate Wiggington showed up and wasted little time finding the place where he wants to work this summer: Frosty Boy, the popular ice-cream store on Main Street.
Within about two minutes he was sitting down at a nearby empty table filling out an application for a job there.
“I hope I can get it,” he said.
It was the same type of enthusiasm for two juniors who work for the school’s newspaper. They approached the Daily Reporter asking if they had any internships or jobs available for students this summer.
Gary Deromo and Darrell Drake Jr. were both ready to go to work right away.
“Our generation now, we are the future to all businesses,” said Gary, who is editor of the school newspaper, the Crimson Messenger. “Something like this can help us find what we are passionate about and develop skills we can use later in life.”
His classmate, a feature writer for the Messenger, agreed.
“I would really like to continue my career of journalism,” Darrell said. “It makes me feel like I help provide a service to the people around me about what is really going on in the world they live in.”
Both students went out of their way to make inroads for a career they want to pursue. That was one of the reasons for holding the job fair, Large noted.
“We want the students to reach out and ask questions about work they might want to pursue as a career,” Large said.
