On Nov. 12, 2008 the holiday job fair comes back to the Skyline Campus and the emphasis on helping students find jobs is in more effect than ever. For those who don’t know what the Career Fair is, it is an annual event held on campus. Businesses come from around the bay area to Skyline, hopefully to find new employees.

Most of the time the Holiday Job Fair is something that students do not hear about until the day of, or they see all these different faces on campus. Students walk past the cafeteria and see a bunch of tables set up and decide to walk up in hopes of a free pen or maybe even a handful of candy. Instead of learning information about what new careers are available in their area, they get excited to see what they can take for free. This year’s job fair should be different for the students who decide to participate because they will gain a lot more towards finding a job and even a dream career.

Virginia Padron, career center coordinator and career counselor, is the head of the yearly job fair who also works with a very solid team behind her. Virginia and the rest of the career center work the entire semester to get everything ready for the job fair and rush to make sure everything is finished the day before.

In the past, the focus was more emphasized on getting the most companies on campus to hopefully get the students jobs. This year the focus was more based on how we can get more seasonal jobs and transcend that to more careers. Virginia had some words on why the focus is different this year.

“Because of the trend in job loss and low employment we usually have to do a lot of follow up to make sure the employees come to Skyline. We are also hoping to have the same amount of employees as last year but are expecting way more this year,” said Virginia. “The students should be expecting to find almost any kind of job, but keep their options as to what job they apply for and what job they get.”

The companies that are expected to come to the job fair this year vary from almost every career job that is possible to obtain in the bay area. Numerous tables are set up with two representatives from each company to answer any questions the students may have. The career center has long steamed relationships with certain companies but also expect more companies to attend this year’s job fair.

“We expect companies such as UPS, Fed X, Costco, Target, Macys and New Horizons to be present,” said Virginia.

She also expects credit unions, child care organizations, office positions, hotel services, clerical accounting and staffing companies to attend.

Virginia also mentioned the recruiters. “By law we have to have the army, The Navy, National Guard, and Air force recruiters on campus, which might help certain students with questions and information they need”.

The economic situation that a lot of Americans are in may question the likely that they can find a job sometime soon. As long as one has hopes for finding a job, the promise may continue to find something. Virginia knows that some students may worry their economic situation.

“There are less opportunities for jobs so focus is more on seasonal work,” Virginia said. “We are hoping to capture every job that is available to the students”.

When the availability of jobs is starting to be a big concern there is always someone to help.

There is always hope for finding something interesting to do on campus and the job fair is beneficial towards your life. There are many reasons why students should attend this year’s job fair, it might be to find a job, get some hours by arrangement completed, and even win some prizes. Many people don’t know about the prizes offered at the job fair, and to win one you have to be present at the end for the raffle. At least the likelihood of getting a prize is very high – one raffle ticket at sign in, two raffle tickets for being dressed for an interview, five raffle tickets for bringing ten resumes, and ten raffle tickets for attending a workshop. The chances of leaving the job fair with more than just a free pen are very likely at this year’s job fair. The information that one may gain will be helpful for finding a job and being prepared for almost anything from a new employer.

The job fair will be Wednesday Nov. 12, in Building 6 from 9:30 to 1 pm. Take some time to attend and invest in your future.