With the end of the school year right at the tip of our tongues, the thought of finding a summer job — or for some, a permanent job — is eating us up right now. We all know our economy is in a frail state and job opportunities are scarce. This is old news, yet it still overwhelms and discourages us when it comes to planning our future. Upon embarking the “unemployed” train, however, the hardest question to answer is: Where the hell do I start?
Today at 7:30 a.m., Cal State Long Beach will host the 14th annual Regional Economic Forecast Conference at the Hyatt Regency in downtown Long Beach. The conference highlights Southern California’s “economic forecast,” which includes information regarding future economic growth in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside/San Bernardino and Ventura counties. This, for one, is a great place to start your job searching.
For those of you who are reading this paper and aren’t at the conference, well, you’re just screwed. Just kidding!
First, we have plenty of job opportunities on campus. There’s the Beach Fund, the bookstore, the Student Recreation and Wellness Center and so on. Having a job on campus is always convenient. Forget the rushing out of class to drive to elsewhere in Long Beach, or even worse, Cerritos or Huntington Beach.
Everyday we rush up that hassle of an uphill walkway outside of Brotman Hall and dodge the extended arms of students hoping to distribute thousands of flyers, saying — or probably yelling, since we can’t hear anything over our iPod headphones nowadays — “No, thank you” before the poor kids can even finish saying two words. What we probably don’t remember as we’re scurrying to our classes is that those flyers always have information about job opportunities. I saw one today that advertised a $16 base pay, not bad at a time when being employed is a privilege.
We all know why we divert our attention entirely away from these students. It’s because they’re like the pop-up ads we never asked to see when all we want to do is go onto Facebook or Google. But, if anyone is in absolutely desperate need for a job, these humanized ads are useful and shouldn’t be repressed from your awareness.
Also, on the CSULB website there are a list of internship opportunities for students. Although it’s not always up-to-date, the list can help to open up your knowledge of corporations and businesses that offer internship opportunities to students for future reference. And plus, you never know if they’re still looking or not.
Craigslist is also never a bad idea. Choose a subcategory listed under “jobs” in Los Angeles, from there you can click the Long Beach tab, or any other one if you so choose, and a list of offers pop up. Most businesses on Craigslist request a resume, so it’s important to keep yours updated and clean.
If all else fails, the traditional walking around Second Street, Fourth Street or other business inhabited streets in Long Beach may work, and it’s always nice for employers to see their applicants in person.
Lastly but most definitely not least, you can always check out the job offers listed under the Daily 49er’s “Classifieds” section of the newspaper. Remember that summer will be much more stress-free with some extra money to spend in your pocket.
Sonia Guillen is a junior journalism major and opinions editor for the Daily 49er.
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