Part-Time Jobs, Service & Internship Fair XVIII
Written by Authur Gonzalez-Martin, edited by Edgar Jimenez
“They were very welcoming and extremely pleased and thankful that we attended. And our other EPH volunteer who was tabling…” Rob said, “Several students took pictures of job descriptions. I was impressed by the level of interest.”
This year’s fair took place on August 27th, in the main quad. Students at Sonoma State had the opportunity to meet with over 50 employers, both private and public. Businesses and nonprofits, seeking to fill part-time jobs and internships participated. Proactively, a diverse range of organizations that would best fit any student, regardless of major or minor, were at the event. The part-time job, service and internship fair was a joint event between the career center and CCE (Center for Community Engagement) to help students find either part-time work to help with the expenses of college life or opportunities to build job experience with different volunteer positions or internships.
Looking to get into local government? The County of Sonoma was there, with a variety of jobs from seasonal park and recreation jobs at the Sugarloaf State Park to office clerks at the county’s own booth. They have their own job boards for government jobs, which is updated on a daily basis. I have always been interested in joining the local police force or becoming a dispatcher. The San Rafael Police Department and Marin County Sheriff’s Office were at the event looking for new cadets. Even the SSU Police Department was looking for people.
Speaking of SSU, we saw some of our own departments seeking students to join as interns, such as IT, looking for tactical assistance to help keep the school's computer issues under control. The department's various labs, such as Physical Education, although defunded, were still seeking students to help set up video equipment, while the student center was looking for people to assist with roles like staffing the information desk.
We saw a number of charities and nonprofits make an appearance at the fair, too, notably organizations like The Living Room, an organization which helps women and children into transitional housing as well as offering meals. There were a few other organizations like Food for Thought, who also offer meals to people who are seriously ill. As well as Trans Bloom, dedicated to healing though creativity and the League of Women Voters of Sonoma County, both looking for volunteers.
Overall, students could help themselves to tacos handed out by student volunteers helping with the event. Tacos were a way of thanking students for coming out and spending a few hours of the day between classes to talk to members of the community.
Feedback that was received by the CCE indicated that most of the non-profits thought the event was a success for the most part. Though as one of the attending organizations, pointed out that it would have been better if the event was longer, seeing how high student engagement was overall.
“It was very well organized” was a very common sentiment from the organizations that participated in the job fair. Student volunteers were helpful finding assigned tables and helping community organizations with questions or concerns.
I was one of the many students looking for an internship or at least something to replace my current job. I loved that both the CCE and the Career Center included a variety of different organizations for the whole range of various majors and minors offered at SSU.
It's clear that this was a very successful event. I’ll be looking forward to other career and/or internship fairs in the future.
Many of the Community Partners in the CCE were listed here.
Written by Authur Gonzalez-Martin