Los Padres Job Fairs Generate Public Interest in Forest Service Careers

  • By Los Padres Public Affairs Staff
Photograph of Forest Service person in uniform standing behind a table talking with several people.

Job fair participants learned about wildland firefighting tools at the Casitas Fire Station.

In an ongoing effort to raise public awareness of career opportunities with the U.S. Forest Service, Los Padres National Forest held three job fairs in December on the Ojai and Monterey Ranger Districts. Forest employees staffed a variety of informational kiosks and answered questions from hundreds of diverse candidates interested in both natural resource and wildland firefighting jobs.

"It was an amazing turnout," according to Casitas fire captain Maeve Juarez, whose fire station held the first job fair on Dec. 10. "There were so many people at one point that we had to break them into groups. The job announcement fliers were gone within a short period of time."

A week later, the Temescal Fire Station hosted the second job fair. Nearly 100 potential applicants—including many with previous experience in fire—spent the afternoon talking with Forest Service employees and getting help navigating the AVUE website. Attendees travelled as far as 75 miles to ask questions and learn more about employment opportunities. More than a month following the job fair, resumes are still being delivered to the fire station.

"This was an excellent way for us to connect with the community," said District Ranger Sue Exline. "The interest level was surprisingly high, and the phones are still ringing days after the job fair as people who were unable to attend are looking for more information."

On December 21, the Monterey District office in King City was preparing for a robust turnout. A line outside the office snaked around the corner, prompting fire captain Harold Cook to usher in the early arrivals prior to the job fair's scheduled start time.

"We had people in and out from 1 p.m. until we closed at 5 p.m.," Cook said. "It went better than any of us expected. People came from all over, including a group of graduates from Monterey Peninsula College. We'll know how successful we were when people start contacting the stations (about individual job openings)."

At each job fair, fire staff exposed attendees to the "tools of the trade" and discussed the rigors of being a Los Padres wildland firefighter. A Law Enforcement Officer described the LEO role and the qualifications needed for the job, while another employee talked with the public about the recreation program and ended up enlisting a host of new trail volunteers.

District representatives provided an overview of the AVUE online application process, and showed potential job seekers how to narrow their search by forest and geographic area. Those attendees who came equipped with their resume were shown how to import that information into a job application in AVUE.

Unfortunately because one gentleman at the Casitas job fair fainted and hit his head falling to the ground, the other visitors witnessed first-hand another side of the firefighters' job as the emergency medical technicians of Engine 51 rushed to assess the man's condition and provide assistance. To everyone's relief, the man's injuries were minor and no further medical attention was required.

The event organizers wanted to extend their appreciation to all the Monterey and Ojai district employees for their invaluable assistance at the job fairs.

"Without their help on this, we couldn't have pulled it off," Juarez said.