Non-Profit Career Day and the 22nd Annual Red Ribbon Event Unite
Mary Anstadt (right), CTE Co-ordinator, Eric Hilden (center), Career Placement Officer, and Peggy Dakin, HR Program Specialist Working Together for Saddleback Students (Cathy Lee Taylor)
Mary Anstadt, CTE Grants Coordinator talks about why 200 high school kids art visting Career Day on Oct. 24.
Peggy Dakin, Saddleback College’s Human Services Program Specialist, and Eric Hilden, Career Placement Officer have created the first shared event where the Non-Profit Career Day and the Annual Red Ribbon Event will be hosted jointly. Joining in are 200 high school students arranged by Mary Anstadt, CTE Grants Co-ordinator, to tour the Career Technical Education (CTE) programs at Saddleback College.
Students as well as our Orange County community can attend the event on Oct. 24 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the College SSC Quad between the BGS and SSC Buildings.
This event serves three purposes: 1) to provide health services students job and internship opportunities, 2) celebrate the ongoing, national campaign against drug use, as well as to 3) allow high school students a chance to view our campus and the CTE programs.
Non-Profit Career Day
Eric Hilden, Career Placement Officer, said, “We want these students to maximize their opportunities to connect with potential employers. Students need to put forth their best effort: dress business casual, bring their resume tailored to the non-profit industry and include any related service, skill sets or accomplishments.
“Set yourself apart from others,” Hilden continued, “by being enthusiastic. Think about the reasons a company might want to hire you and then don’t be afraid to share your talents. And don’t forget to get their business cards and follow up with the people you speak to.”
Here’s a complete list of critical tips to increase your chances of getting a job or internship – right on career day:
1. Dress for success, professional attire. Don’t just show up in jeans and a t-shirt, please!
2. Practice a pitch summarizing your skills and experience. Remember, you are sharing your skills, talents and experience not being boastful. Recruiters love confidence.
3. Bring your resume, pens, a notepad, and business cards with your name, your email address, and cell phone number. If you don’t have business cards, be sure to get cards from the people you speak with so you can call them later.
4. Check out the company’s website before you approach them and ask questions that show you know something about their organization. Show initiative by shaking hands and displaying interest in the person as well as their firm.
5. Career day is not the time to be shy. Network, network and network some more!
6. Be enthusiastic and say thank you a lot. Manners never go out of style.
22nd Annual Red Ribbon Event
“The Red Ribbon campaign is actually the oldest and largest drug prevention program in the nation,” Peggy Dakin said. “It began in 1985 after Enrique Kiki Camarena, a DEA agent, was kidnapped, tortured and murdered while on assignment in Mexico. This campaign was created in his memory and our annual event continues to support a drug-free environment for our students.”
Representatives from the CSI, Secret Service, Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) and the police will be on hand at the event, and they will be talking to students about the potential jobs in their respective industries.
In attendance will be over 60 agencies that provide information on career opportunities as well as available resources in the fields: community-based corrections, substance abuse treatment, and prevention and mental health.
In Orange County, CA alone, there are over 3,000 non-profit (501c3) organizations and the top two industries are Human Services and Education.
Some of the organizations attending career day include Easter Seals, OC Sherriff, and Mary Kay Cosmetics. If you want to see the complete list of firms, you can see it here.
Organizations wanting to present at this event must provide education of substance abuse or other health-related conditions as well as hold a non-profit status that offers employment, internships or volunteer opportunities. There is no cost to employers to attend and lunch as well as a parking permit is provided. Registration can be done online here.
Career Technical Education (CTE)
CTE programs are sponsored by State grants to promote student success and career readiness. Mary Anstadt, CTE Grants Co-ordinator, said, “Career Day was the perfect event to join in and invite our local high school students to experience our campus and get information about our CTE programs.
“We focus on employment and how to be better prepared to be in the workforce and get a career, not just a job. We encourage students to submit an application right then, and this event was so successful last year, several of our students got hired on the spot!”
Anstadt has also invited a Human Resources professional from Toshiba who will speak to the students regarding how to prepare for interviews.
Another purpose of the CTE grants is to fund teaching the kind of skills students are going to need for careers in this new age of technology. “For example,” Anstadt explains, “A car mechanic is no longer a ‘grease monkey.’ He/she is highly skilled in computers, as well as issues such as sustainability and green technology. These grants allow our curriculum to accommodate this new development so we can turn out mechanics that start out making 6 figures a year. That’s the kind of information we want the high school students to discover.”
For more information on learning a trade at Saddleback College without going into debt, read this article published in the OC Register on Sept. 26
If you need directions to the college, please click here for a map.
For questions regarding the Red Ribbon event, please contact Peggy Dakin 949 582-4731
Eric Hilden, Career Placement Officer is available at 949 582-4278
Mary Anstadt, CTE Grants Co-ordinator, can be reached at 949 582-4583
Peggy Dakin celebrates Red Ribbon Day, the man this day honors, and a drug-free environment (Cathy Lee Taylor)