Dundee Park District summer jobs already filled

High school and college students who were counting on the Dundee Township Park District for a summer job this year should start looking elsewhere.

The park district, the township’s largest summer employer, has enough applicants and returning employees to fill many of their seasonal jobs, said Jim Miller, the district’s deputy director.

With a stack of applications in hand, district officials have decided not to hold its annual spring job fair which has attracted crowds of new employees for the last three years.

“Past employees know how hard the job market is and have decided to return,” he said. “We know how they work and we’re glad to have them back. They also know how hard it may be to find a job for a couple of months in the summer.”

So, the 200 jobs will be given to them and others who have completed applications in the last six to eight months.

Those jobs entail working in the parks, at the Randall Oaks Park Petting Zoo, in summer camps, at the Bonnie Dundee and Randall Oaks golf courses, and at the swimming pools in Sleepy Hollow, at the Dolphin Cove Aquatic Center and in the recreation center.

At the pools, 100 employees, many who are between 15 and 20 years old, work in concession stands, admissions offices and as lifeguards for at least minimum wage.

“We’re not discouraging anyone from filling out an application for summer or year-round help,” Miller said. “We’ll look at every application, but we have enough people wanting jobs for this summer.”

The villages of Carpentersville and West Dundee also have hired teenagers but not on the same scale as the park district.

West Dundee Village Manager Joe Cavallaro and Carpentersville Village Manager Mark Rooney said elected officials in their communities have hired a handful of college students in the summer to work in their public works departments.

They hope to do the same this year, but before any decision is made, village trustees must see how much money they have to work with.

“(Hiring college students) is an effective way to complete some jobs that would tie up regular employees,” Rooney said. “Plus, it’s a good program to support local college residents.”

Last year in East Dundee, the budget was too tight to hire any seasonal employees.