The Path to Success: Education and Social Impact Careers Comes to East Bay

Efren Bueno, Staff Writer

California State University, East Bay hosted the Education and Social Impact Career Fair which featured 56 employers who brought information regarding occupations in their fields. The event, held on March 17,  allowed students and graduates to learn more about internships and career opportunities. 

“This is our first in-person event in the last two years [and]  is a great place to start because you get to actually meet the experts in the field we get to find out what opportunities are out there,” explained Jesse Foster, interim Employee Relations Coordinator at CSUEB.

Students explored open positions and new career paths, learned about organizations hiring in specific industries, gathered information from employers, and demonstrated the ability to communicate effectively in a professional setting. 

Often times you know we find a major and we pick it, but we don’t know fully like what we can do with it, and I think that career fairs are a great way to understand that our degrees are so organic in the way that we can make something happen out of it just by meeting someone and connecting with them and asking questions that will help them you know to find the right direction and find the right pathway,” said Foster.

CSUEB’s Academic Advising & Career Education program assists students in understanding program completion requirements, investigating majors and vocations, and preparing for employment and internships throughout the academic and career preparedness process.

“We have worked with previous CSUEB students in supporting the development of healthy families to thrive in our communities. We create opportunities for people of different backgrounds in order to work together in a way where they share cultures, knowledge, and resources,” discussed Sam Hutchinson from California Community Opportunities.

Preparing for events like these is crucial. This entails uploading your current resume, viewing the various employers in attendance, selecting those you wish to connect with, and updating your Handshake profile.

“Bringing awareness from faculty, the departments, and obviously student engagement is the best you know; we have our own student assistants who tell their friends and classmates, and I think the best way is just making sure the words out there consistently so that students know cause we know the busy life of a student has you know they’ll have it on their calendar, but they might forget and just more of like reminding them hey it’s coming up,” Foster mentioned. 

Don’t miss these events if you’re looking for a job or an internship, exploring other career options, or networking with representatives.