About 400 people attended a Teen Job Fair featuring about 40 businesses on Saturday, March 10, at Woodson High School in Fairfax. The event was co-sponsored by Supervisors Pat Herrity (Springfield), Linda Smyth (Providence), John Cook (Braddock), The Connection Newspapers, and the Central Fairfax Chamber of Commerce, which conducted a resume-building workshop.

Supervisor Herrity started the job fairs four years ago with one at West Springfield High School; he will be doing six this year along with other co-sponsoring Supervisors. “I just think first jobs are so important to our teens in their developing work ethic and personal satisfaction and personal responsibility,” he said. “This is one of the funnest things I get to do as Supervisor, and that is provide an opportunity for these kids to go out and talk to employers.”

Braddock District Supervisor John Cook added: “It’s great to see so many of our youth out here looking for summer jobs, looking for jobs during the school year. And a lot of great businesses – school camps, community pools, everything from camp counselors to pizza deliverers to moving and storage companies. It’s great to be able to provide that opportunity to our kids and great to see so many kids coming out wanting to work in the community.”

Providence District Supervisor Linda Smyth said teens getting a job is what every parent wants to see. “And for some people, it’s the first job they’ve ever had. And that’s a great experience. We want kids to be able to get that kind of experience. It’s good for them to know that work is part of life. So, we’re trying to help here.”

Jennifer Rose, Executive Director, Central Fairfax Chamber of Commerce, said: “Our purpose as a Chamber is to support the needs of the business community in the City of Fairfax, so being able to provide them with great employees—even if they’re teenagers—is a great service we can provide. And offering the resume-writing workshop was a bonus for us. Helping these young people understand the importance of the resume and what to put on it when they don’t have a lot of information to go with will serve them well not just in their teen years, but beyond as they really get into their employment opportunities in the future.”

Aidan Morris, 17, of Burke, who attends Lake Braddock, came looking for a summer job. “One of the reasons that I came here was to look for a job and also something that I could think of a career for later. I’ve seen some interesting things like Domino’s and some uniform companies,” he said.

Carson Hopkins, 18, of Falls Church, who attends Falls Church High School, added: “I’m just trying to find a job for this summer and maybe the end of this school year. And there’s a lot of options here that I’ve found so I’ve really enjoyed the experience so far…This will be my first official job; I do a little volunteer work at my church but this will be my first real one.”

Jack Burrer, 16, of Annandale, who attends Woodson High School, added: “I hope to get a job. We just started looking but I hope to (find something interesting). The moving company looks pretty interesting,” he said.