SMC’s Job Fair Offers Opportunities to Students
The SMC Job Fair on the main quad on May 9th, 2017. (José Aguila)
On Tuesday, May 9th, students swarmed Santa Monica College’s quad for this semester’s biannual Job Fair. Some wore suits and ties, while others dressed casually with resumés in hand. They mingled with representatives from a variety of businesses looking to recruit new workers.
The businesses lined up along the walkway ranged from typical fast food giants such as McDonald’s and Panda Express to smaller organizations like Brit Soccer Club and Tito’s Tacos. Representatives from large banks, including US Bank, were also reaching out to potential employees. Most of the businesses offered incentives such as free pens and candy in order to get students’ attention. Plenty of students took advantage of McDonald’s free cookies and Capital One’s free backpacks. The Career Center on campus even provided a professional photographer to take headshots of students to help update their Linkedln profiles right at the LinkedIn booth.
Most students at SMC are pursuing other fields relative to their major and were simply at the fair to find something part time to help fund their education. Aria Nazeri, a theater major at SMC, told us he’s looking for, “in the meantime, something to get by.” The most popular companies at the Job Fair that offered part-time schedules seemed to be the coffee shops such as Starbucks, Peet’s, and Coffee Bean. Smaller, more unique businesses like Superdry and Burgerfi also drew a decent amount of interest from attendees. On the flipside, the Chic-Fil-A and Pacific Park booths were virtually empty.
The event ran from 10 a.m. until 1 p.m., with a hefty amount of traffic throughout its duration. Many students interacted with the business representatives, and plenty left with smiles. Whether or not these students made legitimate connections with future employers remains to be seen, but many students took advantage of the short-term, part-time opportunities that many of the employees offered.