Career counselor Cheryl Burns is challenging some of Silicon Valley’s biggest names to make their debut at the job fair held on campus next Thursday.

“…I would like to publicly invite them, or dare them, to register for our next career fair on Oct. 23,” Burns wrote in an editorial for the Silicon Valley Business Times.
“I believe they will be pleasantly surprised at the talent that exists right in their backyard.”

Burns wrote the editorial in early September, in response to a previous article that analyzed the lack of diversity in Bay Area tech businesses.

California State University, East Bay is the second most racially diverse 4-year university in the nation behind the University of Hawaii and its campuses, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education.

The article details gender and ethnic diversity at Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Apple, Yahoo, Google, Ebay, Polyvore and Chegg based upon demographic reports they’ve released.

While Polyvore is slightly more diverse than the other listed companies in terms of gender, all of these companies have staff that is almost 90 percent white or Asian. Apple is more racially diverse, but also has a staff made up almost half by whites.

According to Burns more than 85 percent of all CSUEB alumni attend graduate school or find a job within six months of graduation.

“Our mostly first-generation college students are hard workers, competing in a challenging curriculum, and land great jobs with companies around the Bay Area and beyond,” wrote Burns.

Some of the businesses registered for the upcoming job fair include the FBI, the Environmental Protection Agency, Kaiser Permanente, KQED, Chipotle and the police departments of many local cities, according to the Academic Advising and Career Education jobs website.

The Fall Career and Internship Fair will be held from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. in multipurpose rooms A and B in the New University Union for students and staff to attend. The deadline for businesses to register was last Friday, though it is possible to register late for an additional fee.