Philadelphia’s largest job fair connects community with careers

Temple’s 12th annual Neighborhood Job Fair will help thousands of job seekers find employment.

Michael Robinson talks with a woman at the Neighborhood Job Fair

Photography By:

Joseph V. Labolito

Michael Robinson, right, Temple’s director of community outreach and hiring, talks with an attendee during the annual Neighborhood Job Fair last year.

On May 17, more than 2,000 people in search of opportunities to start new careers will crowd into the new Aramark Student Training and Recreation (STAR) Complex at Temple University for this year’s Neighborhood Job Fair.

The fair is the largest and longest running annual citywide job fair in Philadelphia.

Meet Michael Robinson

As director of community outreach and hiring at Temple for more than a decade, Michael Robinson’s priority has been ensuring that North Philadelphia residents are connected with jobs at Temple and beyond.

Much of his work has centered on organizing the annual Neighborhood Job Fair at Temple and overseeing workshops and training programs for local residents. He’s also been involved with connecting community members to jobs within the university, where about 10 percent of the workforce is from the surrounding community.

“North Philadelphia is one of the most impoverished areas in our state,” Robinson said. “The employment rate at Temple represents a $52 million boon in income for families in North Philadelphia.”

Temple University’s Office of Community Outreach and Hiring/Human Resources also serves surrounding North Philadelphia residents by providing monthly job readiness workshops, professional development seminars and career coaching.

Robinson is also the senior pastor of Greater Enon Missionary Baptist Church, at 22nd and Berks streets, just west of Main Campus. Prior to becoming a senior pastor, he served in various ministry leadership roles at Sharon Baptist Church, which has one of the largest African American congregations in Pennsylvania.

In 2017, he received a Philadelphia Inquirer Emerging Icon Award.

“This is a job fair on steroids,” said organizer Michael Robinson, director of community outreach and hiring at Temple. “Last year, several thousand adult job seekers, U.S. veterans, and recent college grads attended our event, with 109 employers offering a wide range of jobs, from entry level to executive management opportunities.The atmosphere is electric.”

Participating employers include Alvernia University, Aspira Inc., Charter School Services, Firstrust Bank, Monarch Staffing, the Pennsylvania State Civil Service Commission, the Philadelphia Department of Prisons, the Philadelphia Police Department, the Philadelphia School District, Santander Bank, SEPTA, Swarthmore College, The Bettinger Company, US Foods, TransUnion Credit Bureau, UPS Inc. and others.

“The Neighborhood Job Fair has strengthened the economy of both Philadelphia and the entire commonwealth,” Gov. Tom Wolf wrote in a citation. “I commend Temple University and all who come together to ensure a determined and strong labor force.”

The free, public event is one component of a full array of workforce activities offered by the university. Temple recently opened the Workforce Connections Hub in partnership with PA CareerLink at the Entertainment and Community Education Center on Cecil B. Moore Avenue. The hub is the only Pennsylvania CareerLink center in the state on a university campus.

Attend the 12th annual Neighborhood Job Fair.

May 17, 9 a.m.–1 p.m.

Aramark Student Training and Recreation (STAR) Complex, 1816 N. 15th St. (corner of 15th Street and Montgomery Avenue)

For more information, call 215-204-0677.

- Jazmyn Burton