The annual LISD TECH Center Reverse Job Fair (RJF), held on April 28, 2022, was a resounding success. It has become a cornerstone in our mission to get students career and college ready, along with helping meet our mission to be a talent pipeline to regional employers. It has become a must-attend event for many employers.
The RJF “reverses” the roles of a typical job fair. Instead of having employers seated at tables, displaying artifacts of their business, greeting candidates, and collecting resumes. The LISD TECH Center RJF reverses the roles, placing students behind the tables, prepped with an elevator pitch highlighting their strengths, displaying samples of their work and resumes at the ready.
The event is a direct response by the LISD TECH Center to a need that has been voiced loud and clear by employers, a need to find talent to sustain their businesses. Here, as elsewhere, employers are having a very difficult time meeting their hiring needs. The unemployment rate is in free fall, the pool of available labor is shrinking, and baby boomers in their employ are retiring at record rates, a perfect storm creating a talent crisis.
The RJF concept was developed in collaboration with our local economic development and workforce development partners, Lenawee Now and Michigan Works! Southeast respectively, along with help and support from the Jackson Area Manufacturers Association, as a response to the regional talent crisis. The LISD TECH Center assembled the planning team in the fall of 2013 to come up with a creative initiative that connected students to local employers clamoring for talent. The team quickly landed on the RJF as the solution.
The event is scheduled in late April, just a few weeks before seniors graduate, transitioning to their next challenge, either bound for college or career. All seniors in the included programs are highly encouraged to participate, juniors are allowed to attend the event with a recommendation from their instructor.
Depending on the grade and program of study, the student’s desired outcome may differ. For example, seniors in our Machining and CAM program are typically looking for direct employment, hopefully with an employer that will put them into a Department of Labor-approved apprenticeship to continue their skill growth. Whereas a junior from the same program may be looking for an opportunity to connect with an employer to arrange a Co-op placement for their senior year. Many participating students whose plan is to attend college after graduation, will be looking for part-time employment, summer employment, or an internship.