Teens get advance training for job fair

Columbia Falls High School students and their potential employers have a date at the high school next Tuesday.

The school's counseling office will host its first-ever job fair that day. And students will be coming to the table armed with some pre-employment training that the school arranged.

Doug Cordier, the school's career counselor, said those juniors and seniors who attended a pair of half-day training sessions last week will have first crack at the employers during the summer and part-time employment job fair on March 1.

On that day, local employers will meet with those students from 10 a.m. to noon.

The job fair then opens up for all interested students during their lunch hour, from noon to 12:30 p.m.

Employers will have application forms and a listing of openings available. They may not interview that day, but could set up times to visit with individual students later.

Cordier has commitments from seven employers so far - Glacier Park, Inc., Big Sky Water Slide, Amazing Adventures, Arrow Concrete, Dairy Queen, city of Columbia Falls and West Glacier Mercantile.

He welcomes more. To get in on the job fair, call him at the high school, 892-6500, ext. 230.

It is the advance training that sets this job fair apart.

It also should give students a leg up on their job searches, Assistant Principal Scott Gaiser said.

Business owners will benefit, too.

"If we can train our young people on what it takes to be a good employee," Cordier said, "it's going to serve our employers."

Nearly 120 Columbia Falls students attended the training sessions, held on Feb. 15 for juniors and on Feb. 17 for seniors.

During the four-hour sessions, Flathead Job Service workers teamed up with six local employers to provide real-world information on how to get and keep a job.

Sessions on interviewing and soft skills - such as how to dress, what body language tells an employer and basic courtesy tips - each took an hour. In a single two-hour session, students learned how to prepare resumes and applications.

Students rotated among the sections each hour. They listened as Job Service workers taught the skills and employers added their insights and real-life examples.

Following each session, students had a few minutes for questions. Afterward, they evaluated the training session.

One student, for example, learned that eye contact matters. Another learned not to fold an application form, Cordier said.

They learned to answer all questions on an application - even if it means writing "not applicable." They learned to make a resume a positive statement rather than an accounting of failed job history. They learned that honesty is absolutely critical.

The Job Service regularly offers similar training sessions for people searching for jobs. Employers know what they need individually, and what red flags tip them off to unsuitable employees. The school guidance office knows the students who are in the job market.

Bring them all together, and it should provide a good training mix.

Cordier and fellow counselors Terry Guidi and Barbara Norlander got commitments from employers and the Job Service, and brought everyone together to get acquainted.

They came up with a format for the training session, agreeing to limit this to Columbia Falls High School until they work out the kinks.

At the job fair, they expect to see the fruit of their labor.

Cordier said the guidance office plans to hold another job fair next year, using experience and suggestions for improvement. As it grows, the training sessions and job fair may be opened to students outside Columbia Falls High.

Reporter Nancy Kimball can be reached at 758-4483 or by e-mail at nkimball@dailyinterlake.com