Jamie Kim co-editor-in-chief
For years, there has been low attendance among students on Career Day, but head coordinators Cindy Dubin and Michelle Redston are hoping to change that trend for this year’s Career Day, coming Wednesday, March 14.
Dubin and Redston have scheduled new sessions and networking opportunities to entice more students to attend and participate in Career Day, which features nearly 150 individual sessions and 100 guest speakers.
“As long as the students show up, it will be an incredibly meaningful day for them,” Dubin said.
While general preparation for this annual event is year-round, Dubin and Redston began fully gearing up for Career Day in January.
“What I’m excited about is that over the past few years, we’ve really built lovely relationships with professionals and entities, so they’re all aware that [Career Day] is coming and eagerly awaiting it, so I guess prepping for it is technically just a year-round type of thing,” Dubin, who serves as the Career Technical Education coordinator, said.
Dubin and Redston work with various groups on campus and in the community to ensure that the student-supported event runs smoothly. Just to name a few, KBEV films the event, DECA leads student volunteers, the culinary program caters breakfast and lunch, and the PTSA provides water and gifts.
In light of the National School Walkout taking place that day at 10 a.m., administration and ASB had to coordinate a new bell schedule to ensure students could participate in the walkout, and also attend the sessions.
“This year, the challenge was the National Student Walkout on the same day. So, we just worked with administration, ASB and the teachers’ union to create a bell schedule that will enable us to have Career Day and hopefully have as many students on campus as possible, and make time for the students to participate in the 10 a.m. national walkout,” Dubin said.
Some new categories this year include trade relations, which will feature a trade commissioner from the Los Angeles Spanish Embassy, and hotel management, which will include presentations from local hotels. One session is even tailored to those who are unsure of which careers interest them.
“Career Day is a wonderful opportunity for students to learn about careers they might be interested in, and we want to help them do that,” Redston said. “We added a new section this year called ‘Career Explorer’ for kids who are uncertain about what sections they might want to attend. They can go and learn about what might be some of their strengths and areas to pursue.”
Additionally, students interested in attending upcoming business events, such as the March 28 Networking Night and April 2 Career Exploration Day, are highly encouraged to take part in Career Day.
“Students who want to participate on April 2 will need to take an application around on Career Day and have speakers that they listen to sign a sheet because we really want to give those students priority for the spots on April 2,” Dubin said.
At the end of the day, Redston hopes that students will take advantage of Career Day to find their interests and potential future careers.
“It’s a day for students to network and many have gotten internships out of past Career Days. I think it’s just a great opportunity we have for our kids,” Redston said. “The frustrating part is trying to get kids to sign up for it and come, and out of respect for all of these wonderful business people who give up their time to be here, we want to make sure that students actively participate.”