Job fair woos potential applicants as S.F. seeks to streamline hiring
On a drizzly Saturday afternoon, Layne Menn, who was recently laid off from her Bay Area tech job, found herself at the San Francisco County Fair Building, looking for something new.
“It’s intimidating to start over, to have such a big career change,” she said. “But it could lead to something beautiful.”
To find that, Menn, along with her friend Lesli Digmon, who had left a career in financial services, came to check out government work.
In a city that has a notoriously long hiring process and thousands of open jobs, the event in Golden Gate Park was meant to help potential applicants understand what positions are available — and the hoops they need to jump through to get them, said Katherine Dere, who works with the Recreation and Park Department, which organized the fair.
“People might be intimidated by how long it can take,” she said. “Yes, the city does have a lot of steps, but we’re showing people how to meet them.”
About 20 city departments and a few nonprofits had booths at the fair, many featuring giveaways such as pens and tote bags. There were also presentations
“People might be intimidated by how long it can take. Yes, the city does have a lot of steps, but we’re showing people how to meet them.” Katherine Dere, Recreation and Park Department employee
every half hour about navigating the city’s new job application website. It was the fourth and final in a series of job fairs since Jan. 7 in various parts of the city.
While the city pushes forward with changes the Breed administration says will cut by 40% the 255 days it typically now requires to hire new employees — a change that labor unions still need to approve — the city workers at each booth fielded questions and even walked potential applicants through the city website on laptops or tablets.
Lateef Taylor, employed by San Francisco Public Works, sought to show people the wide variety of skills his department is looking for. Taylor said he’d spoken to quite a few people recently laid off and wanted to assure them that a city job could be right for them.
“Any kind of job you can think of, you can do it with Public Works,” he said, before turning to talk to a visitor.
Park and Rec’s Dere said Saturday’s event was on track to be the largest so far, attracting 200 to 350 attendees.
Among the most popular tables was the Office of Assessor-Recorder, where enthusiastic employees waved over people wandering around the building, showing them flyers and talking about their work.
Al Barber, a real estate appraiser who has worked for the city for 11 years, said he was eager to help people get a foot in the door with a city job, which he said can be very rewarding work.
“Especially for those recently laid off, this is an opportunity to do something more meaningful than just tracking people’s behaviors at a big tech company,” he said.
The positivity from people such as Barber left Menn and Digmon feeling pleasantly surprised with what they had learned after making the rounds.
“Everyone was so youthful and energetic,” Digmon said. “They all seem really content and happy with their jobs, and seem to keep growing and learning.”
That’s exactly what the two women hoping for a career shift were seeking.
“I really want something more meaningful,” Menn said. “There was a lot of great energy here.”