By Claudia Hoffacker
Promoting City Jobs
When White Bear Lake Mayor Jo Emerson spoke at Minnesota’s annual Girls State event this year, she had a surprising realization.
“I told them that if you’re thinking about careers, cities need finance directors and city managers and city engineers and public works, and I just went down the list of different city jobs,” Emerson says. “And I could see the lightbulb going on in their heads. A career in city government had never occurred to many of them before.”
Now, as president of the League of Minnesota Cities (LMC), one of Emerson’s goals is to make sure that young people do think of city government when they think about their future.
“Girls State was perfect because you’ve got 400 young women who are juniors in high school, looking at college and starting to think about careers. It’s a great place to plant some seeds,” she says.
Emerson wants to explore how cities can continue planting those seeds throughout the year in more concrete ways— and not just for young people, but for anyone who may be on the hunt for a new job. Aging city workforce
Getting young people—and others—to consider city careers is not just a nice thing to do. It’s essential because the city workforce is aging, and cities need to attract the next generation of employees. And they need people at all levels—from entry- to director-level positions. Emerson says White Bear Lake is living proof that this is true.
“Our city manager retired a year-and-a- half ago, and our city attorney just retired. We have a few other key employees who will be retiring over the next few years,” Emerson says. “So, I’m really feeling it in my city, and I want to see the next generation step up.”
In support of Emerson’s goal, the League focused on city careers this year in its booth at the Minnesota State Fair. The booth had a superhero theme, and fairgoers had the chance to take an interactive quiz to discover their “superpower” and find out the city careers most likely to be a good match for them. They also had the opportunity to learn more about city careers and how they make a difference in the community.
About 5,000 people took the quiz— some were intrigued by the results and by the prospect of working for a city. Many people made comments about how they’d never thought about applying for city jobs, but they could see now that their skills might be a good fit for a city. 34
“I was very excited that we focused on city jobs at the State Fair this year,” says LMC Human Resources Director Laura Kushner. “The quiz opened up the possibility of working at a city for people who may have never considered it. I hope after visiting our booth that people will see that city jobs are interesting, important, and potentially fun work. These are jobs that impact people’s lives.” Kushner advises cities that they may need to change their approach to attract younger employees. “Be bold, take chances, consider innovative work programs that emphasize work-life balance,” she says. “It’s not always about wages. Today’s workers understand the value of flexibility and freedom to make their own decisions. They are motivated by opportunities to grow and develop.” Partner with schools
Another step cities should consider is reaching out to schools, Emerson says. Partnering with local schools is a way that cities can introduce young people to the career opportunities they offer.
Schools are always talking to their students about careers, so cities should make sure they are in the mix. Perhaps a city official could talk to a government class or participate in a “Career Day” at the school.
Some cities have already had success with this. In Northfield, city leaders partnered with the local high school and an organization called Youth First to offer paid internships.
Youth First, an organization that seeks to increase youth involvement in the community and help youth with career exploration, assisted the city’s internship program by marketing the program and recruiting students at area schools, explains Michelle Mahowald, communications and human resources director for the City of Northfield.
In addition, Northfield High School allowed city staff to set up a booth at the school during the lunch hour to meet and discuss the internship opportunities with interested students, Mahowald says.
Their efforts were successful, as they received 20 applications and hired two interns for the summer of 2017. Brynn Artley, a 2017 high school graduate, worked at the Northfield Public Library assisting with the Summer Reading Program. Siri Hoff, a high school senior this year, worked in the Public Works Department focusing on developing an emerald ash borer policy for the Streets & Parks Division. Managers of both areas were very happy with the work their interns did. “With almost 550 children participating [in the Summer Reading Program], we really needed our intern to help SOUTH DAKOTA MUNICIPALITIES
