East Hampton High School hosted its annual career fair Tuesday morning, introducing students to businesses looking for help as the summer season swiftly approaches, and giving students headed into the world of work after graduation a chance to find an opportunity locally.
Tables set up in the gym were loaded with applications, interest forms, and all kinds of swag for students to take home, from novelty pens that light up to stress balls in the shape of a hammer at the Riverhead Building Supply table to cookies at the Citarella table.
Employers joining Citarella and Riverhead Building Supply included Amber Waves Farm, the Maidstone Club, Project Most, the police departments from East Hampton Town and Village and Sag Harbor, Sportime, and the Army and Navy.
According to Tim Tierney, East Hampton Town police school resource officer, the fair has been a success for the town’s traffic control officer program. Last year, he said, “I think we gave out all our applications, and then we got so many back that we had to tell people we were full.” While the students who work as T.C.O.s in the summer don’t always come back to work in the department, Officer Tierney said that some keep the job while working through the police academy.
Zuleyka Trelles, Alexandria Munoz, and Jesely Castaneda, students in the Bonac Broadcasting Service program, were interviewing people for the school news program. In between takes they spoke about the benefits of the career fair.
“The community offers such good options,” Alexandria said, “so I’m always interested to see other opportunities.”
“It also offers a lot of good networking opportunities,” Zuleyka said, “like if you want to work in law enforcement you can work as a T.C.O.”
“It’s really cool that everyone would come out here and support students,” Alexandria said.
The most popular table by far was Citerella’s, and the students Kim Nyugen and Nola Arcoleo offered some insight as to why. “We saw people walking around with good looking cookies,” Nola said with a laugh.
A large crowd gathered around the table filling out applications on clipboards.
The two girls represent two sides of the average career fair explorer. “This is my first year working,” Kim said, “and I wanted to just see and get experience and see what different types of jobs you can get.”
Nola, meanwhile, said that while she had worked last summer she was taking some time at the career fair to explore other options. While Kim filled out an application for Citerella, both girls talked about other tables around the gym that interested them.
One that caught their eyes was the Maidstone Club. “I feel like it’s a good job,” Kim said, “because you’re at the beach and it’s fun.” Nola agreed, noting that jobs at the beach attract a lot of attention and applicants.
The career fair was organized by Peter Fletcher, East Hampton’s school-to-work coordinator. He hopes it will continue to grow, attracting even more businesses next year. Employers interested in connecting with students looking for work or career training can contact Mr. Fletcher at 631-329-4367, extension 4367.