CINCINNATI -- Yvette Young and her daughter Emma are on the job hunt.
“I would like to have an entry-level position in human resources management,” she said.
But, she said, "I can’t seem to get it off the ground.”
That’s why she and Emma both were among hundreds, of all races and economic backgrounds, who attended the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People’s Diversity Career Fair, part of the civil rights group’s annual convention, happening this week at the Duke Energy Convention Center.
Yvette has a degree from DeVry University, but has only been able to find team member jobs. She’s hoping the networking at Tuesday’s career fair.
Sixteen-year-old Emma, only still in high school, has her eyes set on the future. She said she hopes to be an animator.
“I’d like to make the first — not the first, but the first in a long time — 2D animated movie,” she said. “I want to get pencil and paper back on the big screen.”
Yvette and Emma were among the first to enter the fair, which featured recruiters from some of Cincinnati’s largest corporations, including Procter & Gamble, Kroger, Macy’s and E.W. Scripps, and some three dozen more firms ready to meet prospects.
For recent graduate Kyle Wheeler, Tuesday’s fair was all about opportunity.
“What it means is the ability to network with more people in one location,” said the Miami University grad, of Fairfield Township. “Passing out my resume instead of sitting on a career builder website.”
And while nobody is guaranteed a job by attending fairs like these, it’s a chance the Young’s believe will pay off in the end.
“I’ve got the energy,” she said Tuesday morning. “I’m fired up, and I’m ready to go.”
Her daughter’s just as determined: “There is no force on the earth that can stop me.”
