Fancy shoes, collared shirts and blazers disguised about 190 high school seniors Wednesday as they spoke with local professionals about their career aspirations.

Seniors from Post Falls High School, New Vision Alternative High School and Genesis Preparatory Academy presented their senior projects, in which they made resumés, cover letters, researched their career and completed a job-shadow, at the Reverse Job Fair at Real Life Ministries in Post Falls. The event is sponsored by the Post Falls Chamber of Commerce.

“This is such a great opportunity for everyone,” said Anne Hagman, the event chair. “Students are empowered by professionals that care enough to take time from their busy days to connect with them [and] the business people are empowered to see how wonderful these young people are, and reassured that our community future is in good hands.”

Students had presentations for everything from engineering to biology to nursing to photography to military pursuits.

Haiden Pulliam from Post Falls High School is interested in being a phlebotomist. She attended a class about phlebotomy with her mom which really piqued her interest. She said her interviews at the fair went well.

Stephane Manzi, from Genesis Preparatory Academy, plays basketball and thought going into physical therapy would allow him to stay involved in athletics. After spending a lot of time exploring the profession, he’s hooked.

“It could be something for me,” the exchange student said. “I could take this back home to Rwanda and make a lot of money because there aren’t many physical therapists there, so I’d be the only one for a big area.”

Not every student fell in love with the career on which they did their project. In fact, the senior projects sometimes make students realize the career they had chosen really isn’t for them. Hagman said it’s better to find that out in high school rather than after students have started college.

Jacob Smith from Post Falls High School found out he wasn’t extremely passionate about construction.

“Instead of building the houses, I actually want to be selling them,” he said. “I can see myself succeeding further in real estate.”

Smith said the job fair was going really well for him. He said he wasn’t too nervous to talk to people, but he doesn’t really get nervous anyway.

“This has been very interesting and people give you good feedback,” he said. “I liked talking to them and learning more and opening up my ideas.”

On the other side of the interviews, local businessmen and women were blown away by the level of professionalism and passion behind the projects.

Kiira Siitari, who works with the Idaho Department of Fish and Game, said she spoke with students interested in a variety of professions, explaining IDFG needs people from many fields.

She said she just wanted to put IDFG on the radar of students interested in engineering, software development and forensic science because her department needs those kinds of people.

“I had great mentors and support in my community so I’m trying to return the favor,” she said about why she attended the fair. “I am really impressed with how prepared they are and that they’ve already done some career exploration — it really stands out.”

Rich Houser, the Kootenai County chief deputy assessor, has been coming to the fair for about nine years.

“I think it’s a worthwhile programs for the kids; it helps them get an idea of their potential future,” he said. “I enjoy seeing the creativity of these young people.”

“It’s not our main goal, but every year we hear stories of students getting interviews, internships or even job offers because of this,” Hagman said. “Really we’re just trying to fire them up on their career paths.”

Students not only got to meet professionals in fields they are interested in, they also had the chance to win scholarship money.

Local businesses have been donating money year after year to help aspiring students reach their goals.

This year, 16 Post Falls High School students received a total of $12,000 in scholarships:

$1,000 North Idaho College — Madison Thompson

$1,000 North Idaho College — Abbigail Hathaway

$1,000 Kootenai Health — Lexis Fouts

$1,000 Lewis-Clark State College — Rebecca Skarisky

$1,000 Advanced Benefits — Akira Nelson

$1,000 North Idaho Higher Education — Pedro Romero

$500 STCU — Jayme Cord

$500 Post Falls Chamber — Jillian Woodward

$500 River City Leadership — Andy Oseguera

$500 Idaho Forest Group — Lyndsay Frey

$500 Express Employment Professionals — Kailey Garcia

$500 Knock Marketing & Design — Molly Fromm

$500 Post Falls Rotary — Brianna Slattery

$500 Post Falls School District — Wesley Brown

$500 Post Falls Community Ambassadors LLC — Madison Bechard

$500 Post Falls Kiwanis — Abigail Meyer

$500 IAFF Local 2856 — Josh Rogne