Companies and teenagers get the opportunity to meet one-on-one at a job fair

MINNEAPOLIS— Local businesses are looking for seniors graduating from high school for part- and full-time jobs.

Employers from all industry sectors have gathered at the CTE North Tech Center at North High School to search for workers. Their target demographic, high school graduates.

“I feel like because they’re all here, I get a lot more opportunities than if I just applied online because I probably wouldn’t have looked for them for some of these organizations,” said Jonathan Sims, a graduate of the Edison High School. .

He wants to go into healthcare and help seniors.

“Right now I’m looking at health care services, so the last one I just went to looked like senior housing,” Sims said.

Most of these employers hire for the summer, with some students continuing after they go to college. Other jobs, it’s like on-the-job training for a lifelong career.

“I feel like this is really good for us seniors who are currently looking for a job that they are interested in,” said Ayanle Gedi, a graduate of South High School.

Ayanle Gedi maps out his path to a future in IT.

He quit at potential employer Smart North, hoping that the work there would suit him perfectly.

“I’m interested in an IT role or cybersecurity and hopefully I can get a good job where I can help my family and my community,” Gedi said. “This will be very rewarding for me.”

“We want to ensure that our youth can compete as they mature and enter the workforce, and without exposure to these emerging technologies it will be very difficult to do that,” said Tayo Daniel, CEO of Smart North.

He believes partnering with Minneapolis Public Schools is a great way to provide opportunities for young people.

“So we expose them to 3D printers, VR, AR cybersecurity, IT helpdesk and much more, and it’s very important to do that at a young age,” says Daniel.

Seniors get one-on-one conversations with employers, they can also print resumes and get important job interview tips.

“Right now I’m leaning toward radiology because they told me about this travel work where the company pays them to fly to different states,” said Rafael Toledo, a graduate of Southwest High School.

He believes he has hit the jackpot. The perfect job that could possibly lead to the perfect career for him.