Gaiser Student Center was a hub of connection between employers and people seeking jobs during the Clark College Career Fair on May 17.

It was the college’s first in-person Career Fair since 2019. In total, 70 regional employers engaged with more than 300 students, alumni, and community members. The event was organized and hosted by the college’s Career Services team.

Open to all students, alumni and community members, the Career Fair offered job seekers opportunities to meet local employers representing various industries and programs of study, to find internships, part- or full-time jobs, and explore career opportunities.

The hall was filled with tables staffed by representatives eager to talk to potential employees about jobs and paid internships. At every table, employers were hiring.

• Clark County consistently is looking to fill 40 to 50 positions, said Rori Jones, human resources representative. Some of the positions are entry level.
• Thompson Metal Fab is hiring welder/fabricators, said Michael Moore, vice president of business development. The company has connections with the college’s welding program, but Moore added they also hire people without welding skills.

  He said, “We’ll give you free training onsite and access to top-notch benefits.”

• Matt Wadleigh of the YMCA is looking to hire preschool teachers, summer camp counselors, swim instructors and other positions. The key criteria?

  “Patience,” he smiled. “And like to work with kids, families, and active older adults.”

• FedEx is hiring package handlers and operations managers, said Susie Martinez, talent acquisition coordinator at FedEx. Martinez, a student at Mount Hood Community College, says FedEx offers tuition assistance up to $5,250 per year for employees who are college students.
• The City of Ridgefield is hiring students pursuing a finance degree to fill part-time summer intern positions.
• IQ Credit Union is hiring entry-level teller positions, including high school interns. It offers a week-long hands-on paid training.
• Vancouver Public Schools and Evergreen Public Schools are hiring school bus drivers, paraeducators, and teachers.
• Washington Department of Labor and Industry is hiring paid summer interns in many interest areas.
• PeaceHealth Southwest Medical Center is hiring registered nurses, medical assistants, and pharmacy technicians.
• Fresnius Medical Care is hiring dialysis technicians and dialysis nurses.
• PharMerica is hiring pharmacy technicians.

And more…

“The overall response to the Career Fair experience has so far been overwhelmingly positive,” said Emily Meoz, director of advising and career services at Clark College. “Career Fair planning and day-of coordination was a success, thanks to partnerships with community members and departments across the college.” 

Job seekers also had an opportunity to get a professional headshot photo taken in a photo booth for their LinkedIn accounts and other professional social media platforms.

Cath Keane, associate director of career services, said her team has been planning the event since October.

She said, “My greatest worry was: will people come? Will businesses come? We’re so pleased with the turnout. We have a waiting list of employers.”

Student success story

Clark College graduate Michael Peterson talked to people about career opportunities at Fred Meyer. After Peterson graduated from Clark in 2018, he transferred to WSU Vancouver, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in personnel psychology and human resources management in 2020. Now he’s the district human resources specialist at Fred Meyer. He says he covers hiring, onboarding and more for 15 stores.

He credits his two years at Clark as crucial to his success in a job and field he enjoys.

“I learned time management at Clark,” Peterson said. “I learned to balance my workload while going to school full time and working full time. I wouldn’t have been successful at WSU Vancouver if it weren’t for what I learned at Clark.”

Learn more

• View a complete list of participating employers.
• Connect with Clark College Career Services at https://www.clark.edu/enroll/careers/

Photos: Clark College/Jenny Shadley

Clark College hosts its second annual Summer Job and Internship Fair from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. on Tuesday, March 4, in the Gaiser Student Center. The event is designed to help job-seekers find summer internship and employment opportunities with Portland- and Vancouver-area employers.

New this year, the college is partnering with the Vancouver Housing Authority (VHA) to co-sponsor the fair. According to VHA Community Involvement and Employment Manager Bridgette Farnbulleh, the VHA has organized its own summer job fair for the past two years, but was eager to join forces with the Clark College.

“We wanted to connect with Clark College because of the educational aspect,” Farnbulleh said. “We wanted our youth to be on a college campus, and to understand that the kind of job you get is closely connected to the education you get. We’re trying to break the cycle, to make sure that just because they may have grown up in poverty doesn’t mean they have to live in second-generation poverty themselves.”

“I’m looking forward to this year’s job fair,” said Sarah Weinberger, Employer Relations and Job Developer at Clark College. “We have already doubled the number of registered employers from last year, and the collaboration with the VHA will make our event even stronger. Previously, the Summer Job and Internship Fair was held in May, but many employers had already hired for a June start date by that point. We are now holding the event in March because it’s when students need to start planning for summer employment.”

Positions offered at the fair may be full-time, part-time and in the case of internships, they may be paid or unpaid. There will also be a mock interview room set up to help job seekers prepare for real-life interviews.

The Summer Job & Internship Fair is sponsored by Clark College Career Services and the Vancouver Housing Authority. The event’s Gold Level sponsor is LaborWorks. Some of the employers who will be at the event are Boys & Girls Club of Southwest Washington, Entercom Portland, Firestone Pacific Foods, LOWE’S, Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge, Trackers Earth, and YWCA Clark County. There are over 30 registered employers currently, with room for more. The event is open to any company or organization offering internships or summer employment, but space is limited so interested employers should act quickly to register.

A list of participating employers is available on the Career Center’s Pinterest page.

The event  is free and open to the public. Clark College is located at 1933 Fort Vancouver Way, Vancouver, Wash. Driving directions and parking maps are available at www.clark.edu/maps.

If you need accommodation due to a disability in order to fully participate in this event, you should contact Clark College’s Disability Support Services Office at 360-992-2314 or 360-991-0901 (VP), or visit Gaiser Hall room 137, as soon as possible.

Elizabeth Christopher contributed to this article.

Photos: Clark College archives/Jenny Shadley

On January 21, 2014, nearly 40 people attended Clark College’s Advisory Committee Chairperson Training. Clark College has 25 advisory committees, 15 of which were represented by a chair and/or vice-chair at this training session. Others who attended the training included faculty and administrators.

Vice President of Instruction Dr. Tim Cook opened up the session by welcoming the attendees and discussing the importance of advisory committees to the college and the role they will play in the future. Advisory committees are groups of industry and business experts who help ensure that the college’s career and technical programs are aligned correctly with the region’s workforce needs.

Dedra Daehn, Director of Academic Services, conducted the training.  Topics of the session included ways to engage advisory committee members, work plan development, basic parliamentary procedure and effectively leading committees. A time of questions and discussion followed the training session.

This training, which was first offered last year, is an ongoing commitment of the college to support and enhance advisory committees.

Dedra Daehn contributed this article.

Photos: Clark College/Jenny Shadley

Bank of America has donated $15,000 to Clark College’s Volunteer & Service-Learning program to prepare more than 1,000 students with valuable on-the-job training. The funding will assist with community partnerships and program expenses.

The Volunteer & Service-Learning program places students in more than 100 community nonprofits and governmental organizations, including American Red Cross, Boys and Girls Clubs, Columbia Springs, Habitat Store, and Hazel Dell Community Garden. Students receive experience that promotes their personal growth and contributes to their understanding of course material.

For example, Clark students have volunteered to build homes with Evergreen Habitat for Humanity; students taking Spanish have read bilingual versions of children’s books at local elementary schools as a service-learning component of their classes. These experiences not only enrich the students’ education, they can give students the real-world work experience that can lead to paying jobs.

The Bank of America grant will boost the resources for such major events as Career Days, which needs more than 100 volunteers to operate successfully. It will also allow the program to offer more service-learning opportunities; elevate awareness of career- and service-learning; and finalize new relationships with local businesses. Additionally, Bank of America employees will volunteer their own time to participate in Career Days and to educate students about personal finance.

Clark College President Robert K. Knight said the college’s primary goal is to improve the rate of post-secondary completion. “As a result of the alignment with Bank of America, Clark anticipates students will receive high-quality work history experiences—particularly for students with little or no previous work experience—through service learning and community engagement experiences, and opportunities for civic and community engagement, career exploration, life and soft-skill development,” he said.

“Providing grants to local nonprofit organizations that support career readiness is part of Bank of America’s broader effort to help create economically vibrant communities,” said Roger Hinshaw, Bank of America’s president in Oregon and Southwest Washington. “As part of that, we’re proud to support Clark College’s Career Service-Learning Program, which helps prepare college students to enter the workforce and, in turn, support our local economy.”

Clark’s Career Services department, which oversees the Volunteer & Service-Learning program, has a history of aligning college classroom learning with current community needs; promoting personal growth of college students through reflection about self, society and the future; combining experiential with academic instruction to focus on critical thinking and civic responsibility; and organizing on- and off-campus events that provide quality service opportunities for Clark College students, faculty and staff.