Job openings in the news department of Buck Owens Productions have been filled by out-of-state residents according to Aidee Velazquez.
She was one of more than 70 employers and educators offering opportunities and advice to students at the annual Career Day held Wednesday in the Campus Center.
“The hardest position for us to fill with people from this area is in our news department. I really urge students to be more active in journalism. The opportunities are there, it’s just we don’t have the qualified applicants here for them,” Velazquez said.
Twenty-four years ago, Kathy Weir quit her job with Kern Schools Credit Union to start an at home business with Mary Kay Cosmetics.
“Mary Kay fits in well with any schedule. You are in business for yourself but not by yourself. You will be mentored by others who have been with the company awhile,” she said.
Weir also liked the flexibility to run her own business and still be able to take care of her children.
“Mary Kay put my children through school and throughout the years, I’ve won fourteen cars based on my group’s performance,” Weir said.
“Getting started in a career is all about work history and education,” according to Darci Giovanetti of MDS Communications which does fund-raising for Christian non-profit organizations.
MDS offers a flexible work schedule.
“A job in telemarketing will help you to be more convincing which will help you in all aspects of life. If you want to find your dream job you need to be able to be convincing,” she said.
But one student who was not convinced by Career Day was Jessica Sherlock. “There is something definitely wrong with our generation. We are left with all the debt and nowhere to go. Most jobs are part-time and minimum wage.”
She is also concerned with manufacturing jobs going to countries with smaller economies.
“We wonder why everything is so expensive,” she said, adding that Career Day freebies, which included a key chain from Halliburton and a pin from the Army, were made in China.
“These companies are only concerned with how can I make my next billion dollars because the first ten weren’t enough.”