Free candy, free chips and bank pens you don’t have to steal, what more could a student ask for? How about a paid internship working in your career field while still in school?
The annual Internship and Volunteer Fair was held in the Multipurpose room of the Student Union Center on Tuesday, Feb. 4 from 3 to 5 p.m. The room was filled with business representatives from across the city and students looking for resume enrichment and career experience.
Students majoring in business could apply at Wal-Mart and Frito Lay. The Bakersfield Homeless Center, Kern County Mental Health and the Red Cross were in attendance for students interested in health and psychology fields.
Terrence Holloway, a 24-year-old liberal arts graduate, filled out an application for the Children’s Defense Fund. He has found success with internships before, having landed a six-week job prior. Holloway said internships were good job references and improved his resume.
Positions available were not only on a volunteer basis. Paid employment was also available. Director of Operations and Development for the Bakersfield Condors, Andrew Crutcher, said the company was hiring for a finance assistant and video editor and were recruiting for these paid positions. Several other companies looking to hire included The Corporation for Better Housing and Northwestern Mutual.
Heather Sweazea, 22-year-old senior communication major, had several applications in hand and was attending for the first time. Sweazea was considering paid and non-paid positions. She said she would easily quit her current job at Europhobia if she found a better opportunity through the event.
Target was enlisting for an executive team leader intern, a position that looked favorable to Andrew Laird, a 23-year old senior also majoring in communication.
Holloway, Sweazea and Laird heard of the event through CSUB’s RunnerLink system. This is also how businesses at the event were informed and able to register for the event.
RunnerLink is a service allowing students, alumni and employees to find and post jobs. Students can also find volunteer and internship opportunities through this site. This is managed by the Center for Career Education and Community Engagement service on campus.
Assistant Director of the CECE, Katrina Gilmore, said there are four events a year highlighting internships, volunteer openings and careers.
“They’re helpful in reminding students that applied experience can help with their future. It looks great to employers when that experience and hard work shows up on a resume,” Gilmore said.
The next event, Career Day, will be in April.