For students who are looking ahead to their potential future careers, or are actively looking for a job, an opportunity to start researching showed up in the form of the Job Fair held at Moorpark College’s Quad area on Wednesday, April 6.

Wednesday afternoon was filled with white tents in the Raider Walk quad. Students looking for new career options found great help at the Moorpark College Career Week Job Fair. Over fifty companies attended on Wednesday, handing out business cards, job applications, and giving and receiving other contact information for future job opportunities. Annalise Robbins, 22, second-year student at Moorpark College, took advantage of the event and reached out to the various companies there.

“They are really great, all you need to do is give them an email address and phone number. I have been able to actually book an interview with Onsite Care,” said Robbins. “They are really serious, they are actually here to get their information out and to help students here find jobs. Either it is an internship where there is a job opening or maybe even a training job.”

Companies such as Equinox, Ventura County Fire, and Los Robles Hospital Medical Center attended the job fair in hopes to recruit or hire potential employees, whether it be right away or in the future after a degree in the field is earned. Creating contacts through networking is key to obtaining work in the desired career. Diane Cundy, a human resources coordinator for Senior Helpers, thinks that the Job Fair is a great idea for employers and students to communicate and network.

“We have been here the previous two years and we hired people from the fitness program here on campus last year and it worked out great,” said Cundy. “You get experience and can possibly enter a career related to your major early on. What is great is there are multiple companies from some of the same professions here so you can really see the numerous options instead of only have one each.”

Moorpark College promotes Career Week because students can be unaware of what they do not know when it comes to how and where will they find a career after college. This event was put on by Donny Munshower, a counselor and coordinator for the Career Transfer Center, to help students figure out what fields are available to them and it gives students a chance to learn what steps they may need to take in applying or qualifying for a specific job or career.

“It has definitely made getting my name out there a lot easier considering there are dozens of companies here. I hope this make a difference in what work I go into that way I can have early on experience before I graduate to see what fields are available,” said Ryan Robledo, a 19-year-old business major in his first-year as an MC student.

Only positive results came from attending the job fair, whether it be a nice tan or new employment contacts. It is important for students to take advantage of the opportunities the campus provides because it is not everyday a student will have the option to meet with real time employers who are scouting for new hires, internships, and future hires.

“I think students really need to think about careers and jobs earlier. They need to make a more active role in internship searching AND career preparation before transfer,” said Munshower. “Students can start getting hands-on work experience in the Comm College and students did not and do not take advantage of that enough”