Building bridges to the future

“What do you want to do after graduation?” is a familiar question for anyone entering the last few months of high school.

In August, the Staff Management | SMX recruiting team set up in the Jeffersonville, Ind., High School cafeteria to help teens answer that question.

“We were there for about two hours and personally met at least 200 students, but saw about 5000 of their students during the lunch period,” said Brittany Maracz, a senior account manager with Staff Management | SMX.

It was their first visit to the school and the team set up tables with swag, treats and candy and asked them to explain items like their perfect business casual outfit, the purpose of a cover letter, how they would handle a conflict in the workplace and other helpful scenarios or useful information while job searching in order to win the prizes.

“We offered resume help, mock interviews and overall advice when entering the workforce,” Maracz said. “We even made three standing job offers to seniors about to turn 18!”

The team also handed out business cards so students could let family and friends know about open jobs. They hope to continue the success throughout the school year and plan to visit the school every other week to let students know about the benefits of working in manufacturing. Toward the end of the school year, they’ll visit twice a week to interview and onboard seniors looking to start work after graduation. 

The partnership started with a conversation between Maracz and Lisa Stemler, the career coach for Jeffersonville High School, who wanted to establish an educational opportunity for students looking for jobs after graduation. With Stemler’s help, they were able to show students there are options for those choosing not to attend college immediately after graduation and that companies often have tuition reimbursement programs if they decide they want to go to college after working. With more visits to come, they hope to reach many more students in the area.

“It was such a successful day and so awesome to chat with the next generation of workers,” Maracz said. “We met so many amazing young folks and it was such an enlightening experience. These young adults are truly doing amazing things and asking good questions as they start to seriously think about the next steps for their near future.”

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