Probation Department Job Fair

Last week Community Business College was invited to participate in the Stanislaus County Probation Department's career development fair.

It was unlike any job fair we've ever been to before.

Today's Merced Job Fair for Veterans and The Public

Today’s job fair started off with a presentation of the colors by veterans from the VFW - a definite distinction between veteran job fairs and other job fairs.

You can see the presentation ceremony at the CBC YouTube channel here in the next couple of days – https://www.youtube.com/user/CBCUtube

This job fair was well attended, bucking a recent trend of having fewer than the anticipated number of attendees at other employment fairs.

Community Business College was asked to step in and provide workshops when the original presenter canceled at the last minute. We, of course, were more than happy to provide the service.

We pulled out our tried-and-true four most popular presentations:

 

        10:30      Most Commonly Asked Interview Questions and How to Answer Them

“If you were a tree, what kind of tree would you be and why?” That’s just one of the questions that sometimes takes interviewees by surprise.

One of the interesting trends happening in today’s job search world is most employers are using online job boards as a resource as much as job seekers. Sites like Monster.com and CareerBuilder.com have gotten larger. What this means is employers are downloading their interview questions straight form the source that job seekers can access. Practice a few answers to each question and you are more than half way there on what to expect from most interviews.

What’s the answer to the tree question? Just remember when you hear a question like this (sometimes instead of “tree” it’s “animal” or “cookie”) the interviewer is not that interested in trees, but in the qualities you admire of the tree you select. The “why” in this answer is much more important than the “what.”

 

       11:30     Your Resume - The Right Tool For The Right Job

Someone once said that a good resume is never “finished,” you just stop working on it.

One of the best tips is to customize your resume every time you apply for a job. Do you have a resume designed for clerical jobs but you want to apply for a supervisory position? It’s time to make a copy of the resume and rework it to fit a supervisor. Of course you never lie on a resume but you can phrase your work history and experience more in terms of a supervisor. For example, if you have ever trained fellow employees on new software or new policies, that’s a good thing to put into a resume for a supervisor.

We find this to be a common hurdle for people who sign up for our Groupon resume development.

Here’s one new question that came up regarding filling out job applications – “is it better to write ‘by supervisor died,’ or ‘my supervisor passed away?’” Which do you think? The consensus was “passed away” reads a bit better.

 

       12:30     Job Hunting In A Tough Economy

Where do you find the job leads if “no one is hiring?” We’ve heard that question a lot at Community Business College and that’s what this seminar is all about.

The secrect? Don’t just rely on newspaper Help Wanted sections or even Internet job boards. You have to go out there and beat the bushes to scare up some new job opportunities.

Try cold calling.

Use your people contacts to spread the word that you’re looking for work.

 

       1:30 PM   Use Social Media to Turbo Charge Your Job Search

 

The new technology offered to today’s job seeker is staggering. From smart phone apps to automated resume development systems to access to professional resume critiquers (e.g. Groupon), it is easier now more than ever to get your job search going.

That includes Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Pinterest and all the others out there. They can be “double-edged swords” in that they can help supplement your resume to an employer by providing additional information, but sometimes people aren’t careful what they post on these sites and it can be a turn-off to some employers.

Yes, employers are allowed to look.

One way to fix the problem if you post embarrassing things is to set your page settings to “private” while you’re looking for a job. Then you can turn it back to public once you get the job.

 

The Job Fair Itself

The number of recruiters is up from prior years. Organizers also expect to see an increase in job-seekers. Last year’s fair drew at least 650 people seeking work, which more than doubled the previous year’s turnout.

 

Having a job fair right now in Merced is timely. Unemployment in Merced County is at 11.9 percent, according to the most recent figures released from California’s EDD. According to the same report, veterans are nationally unemployed at a higher rate than the general public.

The Veterans Affairs office in Fresno will sent a medical and administrative team to help veterans enroll in employment and training assistance programs.

Companies who sent recruiters to the fair include Save Mart, Foster Farms, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Tenet Health, Joseph Farms, the City of Merced, Dole Foods, Quad Graphics, Home Depot, Amie Senior Care, Best Buy, and the National Park Service.

 

One bit of surprise to many of our job seekers is how many local companies are still accepting paper job applications.

By the end of the job fair the exhibit room was getting a bit warm. The air conditioners were having a challenge keeping up. Luckily it was a milder day than it had been earlier this week and so it was comfortable enough right up till the end.

 

In addition to finding new employment opportunities at this job fair, one person in one of the workshops joked that you can pick up candy from the vendors just in time for Halloween and save money on your candy budget.

A Fall Job Fair That Left Us Lonely

The Job Journal hosted a job fair yesterday and Community Business College staff helped out by providing free resume critiques. Here's what happened...

Each time we attend a job fair, the experience is a little different.  This job fair in Modesto was notable because we ran out of resumes to critique. That almost never happens.  Why did it happen this time? Here are some theories:

     People are gearing up for the holidays so job search is on hold.
              The word didn’t get out about this particular fair.

                  More people have jobs than need jobs.

Of the possibilities, the first two seem to make more sense than the third theory.

But, needless to say, offering unemployed job seekers free critiques on their resumes we learn about what’s trending. It’s a good service that a lot of people appreciate.

All told, we helped 34 people with their resumes, from the job fair. It always provides us with a good feeling to help those in need.

In fact, one service group brought a class of youth with intellectual developmental disabilities over and we were able to help them spruce up their resumes and practice interacting with strangers.

We also had a job seeker travel all the way from Ione, California for this job fair and we had a priest who is no longer a priest and needed help on his resume to get a secular job.

By the way, another resume evaluator reminded job seekers that their job search efforts might be tax deductable.

And, finally, one other interesting factiod from this job fair – this may be the first job fair we attended that had two nut companies recruiting for employees at the same time: Diamond Nuts and Fisher Nuts.

So here are the trends we saw amongst the resumes:

Here are some of the tips that came up at this fair:

Rules? We don’t Need No Rules

In addition to the regular rules of job fairs, we did find one worth adding.

First, the regular rules still apply:

          Come dressed as you would for an interview;

          Bring copies of job-ready resumes to hand to employers;

          Be prepared to answer interview questions;

          Take lots of notes to follow up later.

 But here’s a new rule: Don’t come to the job fair if you’ve finished drinking a few beers and spilled some on your shirt.

Yes, it happened. Somebody walked up for a free resume evaluation smelling like a homebrew factory. And, needless to say, he was not as sharp as would have been if he had come in sober. Now, granted, looking for a new job can be really stressful, but it’s not bad enough to hit the brews BEFORE you go in.

It sends the wrong message. It’s like the one person who went from employer to employer, wearing a t-shirt that says, “I’m not laughing with you, I’m laughing at you.

Another thing we came across is someone with Lotus 1-2-3 and old Word Star listed as software skills. Our advice? Stick to listing contemporary programs on your resume unless you find a job opening that specifically asks for one of these classics.

Loyalty To The Extreme

One job seeker was quite concerned that she wouldn’t want her next employer to see that she was still working.

Why?

She thought it would make her look disloyal to her current employer. She is working at a part-time job position but is looking for a full-time job her current employer couldn’t provide.

Her leaving for a better position is just the way of things and almost every employer understands that. The bottom line is if employers really want to keep employees, all they have to do is offer better wages, better perks, more hours, etc. That’s part of being an “At Will” employer. If employees can get a better deal somewhere else, they should take it. After all, the employer is under no rules of loyalty to keep employees and layoffs happen all the time.

The Dreaded Double Entendre.

One resume was an electronic oriented resume with lots of technical skills listed. One of the attributes was “Sound Design Skills.”

So was he saying he has audio skills like for dubbing in audio in movies?

Or was he trying to say that his design skills are sound?

When working on your resume phrasing, remember to watch out for phrases that can be read more than one way.

There have been other, more extreme examples of this, like the ever embarrassing – “I was told by my last employer that he was lucky to get me to work for him.”

Sometimes it helps to have friends and family read your resume for that reason alone– it gives you a new pair of eyes who can read things differently like a potential new employer might.

The Real Job Of The Resume

One of the school’s resume evaluators found a common concern - Getting interviews can be quite a challenge.

Here’s one of the most common reminders we offer:  It’s the resume’s job to get you the interview. Then it’s up to the interview to get you the job.

We’ve never heard anybody say that they got a job just off the resume. There almost always is an interview required.

The last quirky thing that occurred at this particular job fair? One job seeker couldn’t stop sneezing. It must still be the end of allergy season.

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Do you find the job search process frustrating?  Try taking a short course on finding a job with our six-week, instructor-led online course at:  http://www.ed2go.com/cbc123/online-courses/12-steps-to-successful-job-search

Need some tips on developing your resume? Get the professional resume development package on sale now at Groupon.

Or try taking a six-week, instructor-led resume class or job search techniques class at Community Business College.

And of course, there’s always our popular Use Linked In To Jumpstart Your Career certification class.

Veterans Day Job Fair at the Modesto EDD Office

Stanislaus County hosted a job fair for veterans this morning. Although the job fair had a particularly focus of helping our veterans, the fair was also open to the job-seeking public. 

It was an overcast morning after a rainy day and there weren’t the long lines of job seekers waiting to get in that there have been at past job fairs, but give them kudos for trying, especially for trying to help veterans - a much under-served population here in Stanislaus County.

The fair ran from 9 AM to 1 PM today. Given the list of exhibitors that showed up, it appears this fair ended up being more of a “resource fair” than a job fair, per se.

With regards to the exhibitors, there were many of the same ones who attended last year’s Veterans Day fair.

Below, Community Business College has listed some of the participants who attended the fair. If you weren’t able to make the event, you can still look up most of these exhibitors by their websites. (Google searches are an amazing advantage of modernity). Job opportunities are usually posted on the organizational websites. Other services can typically be found there as well.

2015 Veteran Fair Exhibitors

Employment Development Department Office, Modesto, CA

Staff Mark Employment Agency

California Employment Development Department

California Department of Vocational Rehabilitation

The Veteran’s Administration

California department of Business Oversight

Stanislaus County Alliance

California Department of Veterans Affairs (Cal-Vet)

The Stanislaus Small Business Administration

Delaware North Company (Yosemite National Park Concessions)

Heavy Equipment School

SMX Staffing Agency

Disabled American Veterans

San Joaquin Valley Veterans

American Legion

Stanislaus County Veterans Service Organization

Goodwill of San Joaquin County

The Veterans Day Job Fair Hall  11/10/15

Need some tips on developing your resume? Get the professional resume development package on sale now at Groupon.

Or try taking a six-week, instructor-led resume class or job search techniques class at Community Business College.

And of course, there’s always our popular Use Linked In To Jumpstart Your Career certification class.
 

By the way, Community Business College will be closed tomorrow for the Veterans’ Day holiday.

What To Expect At September's Job Fair?

The Job Journal hosted another job fair on September 22, 2015 from Noon to  4 pm at the University Plaza Waterfront Hotel  in Stockton. Admission is always free for job seekers (Click Here for Details).

Community Business College provides job placement staff to offer free professional resume critiques to attendees. This is normally a component of a resume development package but the college provides the service free of charge as part of its community outreach.

Stockton Job Fair - September 22, 2015

What jobs were being recruit for at this fair? Here's the official list (each listing has an active link to a job description, CBC does not endorse these jobs and advises its job seekers to check before purchasing any job leads):

Account Executive (Digital and print advertising sales) Adult/Youth Sports Officials (Seasonal/PT) After School Recreation Leader Banking Analyst Chief Plant Operator - Water CNC Operator Coach Counselor Crane / Rigging Instructor Deduction Coordinator Deputy Director of Human Resources Deputy Municipal Utilities Director/ Wastewater Director of Food and Beverage Electrician/Mechanic Environmental Manager Financial Services/Sales Professional Financial Services/Sales Professional Financial Services/Sales Professional (Bilingual) Health and Safety Manager Heavy Equipment Crane Instructor Hospitality Supervisor Human Resources Manager Industrial Maintenance Technician Industrial Maintenance Technician Inventory & Order Fulfillment Specialist IT Applications Manager Layout Fitter / Welder Machinist Maintenance Mechanic Maintenance Supervisor Manager, SOX Compliance and Controls Mold Maintenance Technician Office of Violence Prevention Manager Order Selector Packaging Mechanic Packaging Mechanic Police Officer - Academy Graduate Police Officer - Lateral Police Officer - Recruit Police Officers – Lateral, Direct Entry Police Recruit Press Brake Operator Production Supervisor Production Workers Production/General Labor Public Safety Radio Dispatcher Trainee Ready Mix Instructor Recreation Leader Safety Manager Scheduling Coordinator Senior Code Enforcement Officer Shear Operator Shipping & Receiving Clerk Welder/ Fitter

To find current job opportunities in the Central Valley, the school has set up a page with the most popular places to post resumes and search new job opportunity listings: http://www.cbcwebcollege.com/jobsearch.htm 

Please feel free to check back to this blog for results of future job fairs.

Job Fair Results - Slim Pickings

Community Business College staff attended a job fair this week.

Although there was a fairly good sized line of job seekers before the fair officially opened, this fair showed a distinct lack of job openings in the area.  The job fair claimed over 800 jobs but there were less than a dozen booths.

The depressed economy still depresses many.

There was, however, a ray of hope - college job placement staff along with other professional volunteers, provided free resume reviews and helped the job seekers prepare themselves and improve their chances for when the job openings do start coming in again. This is the same resume service that Community Business College offers its alumni to help them find employment.