The Fox Valley Park District will look to fill 350 seasonal positions at a job fair on Saturday.
The event will run from 9 to 11:30 a.m. at the Prisco Community Center, 150 W. Illinois Ave. in Aurora.
Open positions include aquatics personnel, such as lifeguards and slide attendants; parks and grounds maintenance; camp counselors; admissions/guest services attendants; MVP Sports coaches and more. There are also opportunities available at facilities such as Blackberry Farm and Red Oak Nature Center, officials said.
Hiring managers will answer questions, help match candidate interests with open positions and conduct interviews to fill the seasonal vacancies during the event, according to a press release from the district.
Those looking to attend are strongly encouraged to register in advance for the event by submitting their application and resume through the registration portal on the Fox Valley Park District’s website at https://www.foxvalleyparkdistrict.org/.
Those who register in advance will receive a folder with a printed name tag and a $20 Amazon or Chipotle gift card when they arrive at the job fair.
Jesse Kinsland, the district’s director of human resources and risk management, said the job fair draws a good crowd every year.
“We’ve been doing the job fair close to 10 years and this is a one-stop format that works for us. We had over 300 people last year and we’re expecting maybe 400 this year,” Kinsland said. “We know that we won’t fill every position on this day which is why we attend other job fairs held afterwards throughout the spring at local high schools, Aurora and Northern Illinois University and other places to recruit kids.”
Kinsland said one of the ways the park district has drawn potential workers to the job fair is to incentivize the process, which is why they have the gift card offer for those who register in advance. In addition, all those who interview will be entered into a drawing for one of three $100 Amazon cards.
According to Kinsland, the district is not having issues finding people to take jobs in the post-pandemic world.
“We aren’t seeing a lot of those post-hiring woes. We are starting to get more applications and people coming through the door,” he said. “We have a lot of retention and also a referral program where if an existing employee refers a friend they’ll get a $20 gift card if that new person mentions them as a referral.”
Kinsland said it is fun hiring candidates for their first-ever job at the Fox Valley Park District.
“It’s a wonderful place. Many of us, including myself, in the leadership positions here, it was our first job working at a park district. It’s a wonderful place to come and learn and be part of a team and have fun over the summer – learning about what it is to work at a place and have the structure.
“We always stress to the first-timers as well as those coming back to us that this could be a career for you – it’s not just a summer job,” he said. “Many of our people were lifeguards, day camp leaders or worked in the parks departments and found their career path.”
David Sharos is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.