Six Flags Job Fair creates pool of candidates
By Long Haw-Shu Special to The News-SUn February 12, 2012 7:52PM
Applicants wait to be called for an interview on Saturday at Six Flags Great America in Gurnee. | Joe Shuman~for Sun-Times Media
JOB FAIRS
CONTINUE
Six Flags will continue to hold job fairs every other Saturday until March 24. The dates are Feb. 25, March 10 and March 24. Hours are 10:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. To apply online, visit www.sixflagsjobs.com.
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Updated: April 13, 2012 1:39AM
As the hiring season began in earnest last Saturday at Six Flags Great America, the area’s otherwise dismal job market appeared to have received a much needed shot in the arm.
More than 150 job applicants stood outside the amusement park’s employment office in frigid weather before it opened at 9:30 a.m. for the first of a series of job fairs. As many as 600 people showed up with high hopes before the fair closed at 3 p.m.
Six Flags has 3,200 seasonal jobs to offer for its new season, which opens May 5. Among openings are those in retail, food service, security, paramedics, landscaping, games and rides, aquatics and entertainment. Some are part-time and others, full-time. The starting pay for many jobs is $8.25 an hour plus benefits.
“We expect to make a dent on the jobless market,” said Krissy Turner, director of human resources, confidently.
Some, like Darrell Powell, who had applied online before he came for the interview, were hired on the spot.
“I’m surprised. I thought I had to come back three or four times before I would be hired,” said Powell, 48, of Beach Park, who was hired as a landscaper.
Powell, who has a wife and two boys, 11 and 13, said he has 20 years of experience as a landscaper and once had his own business. But because times are hard, he has been working as a loading hand for a department store.
“I would rather work for a steady, strong company. This is going to make my life much better,” he said, hoping this would lead to a full-time permanent position.
By luck and hard work, some seasonal jobs eventually lead to permanent positions, said Turner.
Sean Cashin, 16, a junior at Zion-Benton High School, was all but hired as a lifeguard pending completion of further aquatic training.
“I’m pretty happy. This is my first job,” said Cashin, who is the editor in chief of the Stinger, the school newspaper.
“I’ll save some of the money for college. I’ll see how it goes because there are expenses,” he added.
Six Flags offers jobs first to those who worked there before. Each season, more than 1,200 former employees return for work. Kathryn Harper, 16, a junior at Warren High School, was one of them. She worked as a lifeguard last year.
“I want to try something different, working in the rides department this year,” said she as she stood in line for an interview.
To speed up the hiring process, Six Flags recruited nearly 80 interviewers from the staff of its various departments because, as Turner pointed out, they know what they are looking for in applicants.
Turner said her staff will also try to match applicants’ talents with other jobs available if they fail to qualify for the jobs they applied for.
Each year as many as 20,000 people apply for jobs at the amusement park.
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