The Mall was filled with smiling faces and eager students looking for immediate employment for the semesterly Job Fair.
More than 50 companies were recruiting employees and interns including, Team Play Events, Volunteers of America of Los Angeles, Susie Cakes and Gothic Landscape.
Students dressed professionally to find careers in fields such as sales, child development and student enrichment, on Thursday, March 23.
Certain positions were catered specifically to students who already met the requirements or were willing to train.
Human Resources Representative for the Sears Operation Center in West Hills Sehma Mistry said that the telephone sales position does not require much experience.
“We only require a minimum of six months of sales experience, whether it’s customer service, retail or fast food chains,” Mistry said. “We also offer training if you do not have any sales experience. If you do really well with the phone interview questions we ask you related to sales experience, then we can go ahead and send you to the manager for potential employment.”
Lara Hubbard, who is part of the recruiting department for Gothic Landscape company, said they partnered with Pierce a few years ago and are interested in teaming up again.
“We’re looking for students that have the energy and the desire to really grow and learn the landscape industry,” Hubbard said. “We are also looking to partner with the agricultural program here to get some great students.”
For employment with LAUSD’s Beyond the Bell, Marisol Yanez, site coordinator of Beyond the Bell at Lawrence Middle School, is looking for people with a background in different areas of education and extracurricular activities.
“All you need is knowledge and experience in either of the components of sports, dance, academics, and enrichment, because you will be guiding middle school students in the component of your choice to get them to the desired level of proficiency,” Yanez said.
Susie Cakes employee Monica Lopez said they are looking for people with a friendly personality and with a drive to learn the bakery industry. Those interested can apply online.
“We’re hiring for our guest service team. As our culinary team, you don’t really have to have a lot of background for it. We just ask that you have a great personality,” Lopez said. “You definitely learn as you go on. There’s a lot of room for growth.”
Other positions provide students with the internship and experience required for child development majors.
“For teachers, we only require 12 units of early childhood education, and for the child care aides, there are no requirements. We provide the experience those venturing into child development need, given they are deemed suitable for the position,” said Child Care Director Kasandra Rubio for the North Valley Family YMCA.
Elga Urrutia, child development and outreach coordinator for Volunteers of America of Los Angeles, said that they are offering not only paid positions, but also internships for child development and social services.
“We work around the students’ schedules to make sure that we are not forcing them to volunteer at an inconvenient time. The students decide the date, time, location and the length of their internship,” Urrutia said. “The internship places students in a classroom setting to work with fully qualified teachers and place and experience everything that they are learning in the classroom to the real life.”
For those who missed the event, a list of the companies and contact info is still available online at the Pierce College Career and Transfer Center site.
