Attending the Business/Retail Career Fair on Thursday, Nov. 12 for the first time, business major Johnson Var, walked through a channel of 20 different employer tables.
Each were represented by various employers, such as Ralphs, Starbucks, Northgate Market, Good Will, Hyatt and Ann Taylor, all who were looking to hire students.
“I am currently working but, I know [Good Will and Starbucks] have opportunities so I can move up,” he said.
Var is a part-time student this semester and sought for a management role at Good Will.
Among Var and other students browsed through the fair, psychology major Kealani Infiesto spoke with the store manager of the Starbucks, located on Imperial and La Mirada [store number 5716] Kimberly Hammond, about its hours, hourly rate and to see if it would be lucrative to transfer.
Infiesto is currently a shift supervisor at Coffee Bean.
“It’s sort of a step above the baristas, like a management position, but you don’t have as much of responsibility like the general manger or assistant manager,” she explained.
She also added that she was “looking for more hours and maybe a higher hourly rate,” because she is trying to move out.
Infiesto is currently a part-time student and she “definitely wants more hours, 401K and wonderful benefits,” which is what she’s looking for.
On the other hand, business management major Steve Fernandez heard about the fair, but was not sure when it was.
However, Fernandez looked specifically for federal government jobs because that is his goal.
“I would say I have to because I did a lot of years in the military, but I didn’t do my full 20 years,” he said.
“The way the federal government jobs work is you could buyback your time from the military and apply it toward a government job, then you can retire from the [government] job.
“So for example, I did 17 years in the military, I couldn’t do my full 20 years because I got out of medical discharge due to an injury in Iraq, long story short.
“So in three more years I retire, but if I work for a government job they will accept my 17 years and apply it toward them and then, in essence, I can still retire from a government job and so [I] do three years for them and keep my 17 plus I get a retirement,” he said.
Vocational Rehabilitation Specialist from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, David Fierro, MS, explains what the Veterans Affairs is, “It’s a hospital, like any general hospital, but we just work with veterans.
“So we provide any type of treatment that any hospital work with veterans, but we also have a lot of social services. We assist with housing, employment, mental health issues and substance abuse issues.”
Fierro adds how students can apply for a federal agency, “There is a website that every federal agency hires from and which is usajobs.gov, and every student that is interested in working whether it be our agency or another agency has to go through that site to apply.”
He said, “A lot of jobs won’t tell you how much they are paying. Right there it is black and white.
“You have to tell people what their salary is. From the salary range, the duties, and so on so everything is on the website for the job and also where the agency is located.”
He also mentioned that a student does not have to be a veteran.
“We have a lot of professionals that are not students. There are only certain jobs that are set aside for veterans – more like blue collar jobs such as housekeeping, maybe in the cemetery, but every other job is open to the general public. It’s just that veterans whom are disabled or veterans that have been injured in time of war are preferred,” he said.
Fernandez also adds, “Just as long as it is government to government, it can be any government federal job, but you have to pass one year of probation of working with the government.
“Once you pass that then you can go ahead and they will allow you to buy it back, but it is not something easy, it costs money to buy it back,” he concluded.
