San Mateo – The County of San Mateo is hiring.
So Haja Donzo came to the County’s Career Fair on Friday with her résumé tightly written and her elevator pitch well rehearsed.
“I like how you are passionate about helping the less fortunate and developing the community and everybody around us,” Donzo said to a recruiter, one of a number she spoke with about opportunities to “Work with Purpose,” the theme of the County’s marketing campaign.
Donzo was among more than 1,500 people who came to a hiring event showcasing opportunities in health care, social services, law enforcement and many other fields. These include Donzo’s specialty: marketing and communications.
Vacancies range from stationary engineers – the professionals who literally keep the lights on – to social workers.
“I think one of the misconceptions is that as social workers we deal with the most egregious stuff,” said John Fong, director of Children and Family Services for the County’s Human Services Agency.
“The vast majority is just people who need a little bit of help, a little bit of support,” he said. “We need those helpers and healers of the world who want to make a positive impact on people’s lives – kids, families, communities – those are the people we are looking for.”
That sentiment speaks to Jackson Forget, a freshly graduated registered nurse looking to put his skills to work in the public sector.
“It runs in the blood,” said Forget, who uses his name as a catchphrase to stand out: You won’t forget me.
“My mom is an RN. I’m one now. A lot of people in my family work in health care as well so it’s in the blood,” he said.
Nursing specialties are among the 600 vacancies out of a workforce of about 6,000.
Current vacancies literally run A to V: An accounting position in Aging and Disability Services to a victim advocate in the District Attorney’s Office.
Numerous jobs come with incentives: up to a $15,000 hiring bonus for a psychiatric social worker, and even more for an experienced peace officer to fill deputy sheriff vacancies.
For all positions, the County offers competitive pay and benefits, learning and development opportunities and more, said Rocio Kiryczun, the County’s Human Resources director.
“We have all of our jobs posted on our website so please do visit and learn about careers. We’re also on LinkedIn where we post all of our positions,” she said.
“San Mateo County is a great place to work. We have outstanding employees who are working hard every day and are working with purpose to make contributions to our community.”
San Mateo County Supervisor Jackie Speier, who initiated the event, and County Executive Mike Callagy kicked off Friday’s Career Fair with opening remarks. Numerous panel sessions with experts in the public hiring process as well as question and answer sessions followed the opening remarks.
Learn more about opportunities on the County’s Human Resources website.
Michelle Durand
Chief Communications Officer
mdurand@smcgov.org