Awesomeness for hire
High school senior Gabby Parker, left, discusses mortuary science Wednesday with Post Falls Chamber business development manager RaeAnne Capaul during the 2024 Reverse Job Fair at Real Life Ministries in Post Falls.
Photo by Kyle Dishaw Photography
POST FALLS — Nearly 300 Post Falls-area high school seniors had the opportunity to not only learn more about their prospective future careers, but also earn scholarships and awards Wednesday at the Post Falls Chamber's Reverse Job Fair.
Held at Real Life Ministries in Post Falls, the goal of the 17th annual event was to empower upcoming graduates for when they take their first steps into the workforce.
“This event is one of my personal favorite events of the year,” said RaeAnne Capaul, business development manager for the Post Falls Chamber. “I love our collaboration with our business and education board, Reverse Job Fair Committee, community leaders and Post Falls educators.”
Seniors from Post Falls High School, New Vision High School and Genesis Preparatory Academy filled Real Life's auditorium with job boards and spoke with over 130 interviewers about what they plan to do once they graduate from high school.
The interviewers represented a wide range of career fields so every senior could speak to someone familiar with their chosen future paths.
One such confident senior was Gabby Parker, whose Reverse Job Fair senior project featured mortuary sciences with the eventual goal of becoming a mortician.
Like every participating senior, Parker was graded off a webpage she created prior to the event that details the research she conducted on the profession. This included describing job shadow experiences at Bell Tower Funeral Home and Shoshone Funeral Services.
Based on these web pages, 37 finalists were chosen to enter a second round of future interviews for the chance to earn 28 different monetary awards to put toward furthering their career goals.
This year, local businesses and organizations donated $20,000 worth of award funds for the event.
Parker said she thought the Reverse Job Fair was really cool.
"I loved talking to people, I loved getting to know them and what they thought of me, especially my project," she said.
Senior Andrew Orsua conducted his project on becoming a pilot. He had a similar positive experience.
“It was pretty fascinating,” he said. “I honestly enjoyed talking to all the different people and getting to know them.”
Organizers were pleased with how everything turned out.
“It’s such an inspiration watching these young adults working hard to pursue their futures,” Capaul said.