For hundreds of San Diego County residents like Jasam Gaoiran of San Diego, the Healthcare Job Fair held Tuesday at the Bonita-Sunnyside branch of the San Diego County Library presented a few hours of networking, resume distributing and information gathering.
“It’s been very productive,” said Gaoiran, who just graduated two months ago. “Everyone has been very helpful and I’ve been handing out resumes.”
Gaoiran is looking for a job as a respiratory therapist, but there were all kinds of employment and educational opportunities as the library and the South County Career Center (SCCC) held their second Health Care Job Fair.
“We’ve had five job fairs here overall, but this is our second industry-specific event,” said SCCC Business Services Coordinator Diane Rose. “We held our first Healthcare Job Fair in April with around 350 attendees and got really good feedback from employers and jobseekers.
“It’s connecting employers with people that have the skills they need.”
Rose said the SCCC decided about 18 months ago to target a growth industry in the South Bay and identified healthcare as the area to focus on.
“We went out into the healthcare industry and talked to employers, industry groups, schools, clinics and the community and we’re trying to connect it all,” said Rose.
Tuesday, they transformed the library’s Community Room into employment central as jobseekers lined up to have their resumes reviewed by SCCC case managers before they proceeded to meet with potential employers or check out educational opportunities.
“This is one of the ways the library is helping out in this economy,” said Bonita-Sunnyside branch manager Hildie Kraus. “We are pleased to partner with the career center in helping people find jobs.”
Kraus hopes the public realizes the library can be extremely useful in a job hunt not just during events like this, but every day.
“The library has many resources both online and in print for jobseekers,” she said.
The San Diego County Library’s website has an entire Job Hunting Guide section with online career transition help, online chat with an interview coach, suggested books, resume help, links to education, training opportunities and more. You can find the information by visiting www.sdcl.org/job-hunting.html.
