CHICAGO (FOX 32 News) -
The Chicago Transit Authority is holding a job fair on the South Side Monday, looking for 400 part-time bus drivers.
The first 20 or so people got in line before 5:00 a.m. When the fair began at 9 a.m., there were hundreds of people waiting in line at Chicago State University.
The drivers are being hired because of the Red Line South Track Renewal Project, which begins rebuild next May.
That Red Line project is going to completely shut down that train line for five months. That means commuters will have to board shuttle buss that will take them from the South Side to other train stations.
The new drivers will keep their jobs permanently after construction is over.
Applicants need to have a valid commercial driver's license and professional endorsements. They have to be at least 21 years old and have a clean driving record.
Applicants said the job market is still tough. They numbered in the hundreds Monday morning, with lines overflowing out of the building and snaking through the parking lot.
Even if some applicants do not get the position, it's still beneficial to go. Information booths and people with training information regarding the skills necessary to qualify for future jobs are stationed inside the job fair.
Monday's job fair is about helping people get on the path to getting training and qualifications they need to be a CTA bus driver.
The part-time jobs require drivers to keep quite non-traditional hours.
But a CTA bus driver dropping people off at the job fair got out of her bus and told hopefuls how she had been a 20-year veteran of the CTA, and that it was a good paying job that allowed her to get a degree at Chicago State University.
She was very encouraging. So far the attitudes are very positive.
The CTA is a huge employer, with just under 10,000 employees, serving 1.7 million riders daily. A lot of people in line want to change jobs.
Decisions won't be
made immediately. Some will be invited
back for an interview and could start work at the end of the year or the
beginning of next year.
The transit authority will hold three job fairs total - another in August and a final fair in September - before making a final decision in September.
Monday's job fair will continue until 1 p.m. at Chicago State University.
