TAFT, Calif. (KERO) — For the past 11 years, Taft High School's Oil Tech Academy has hosted its annual career day, bringing together companies to engage students about career opportunities, industry skills, and desired characteristics in employees.
- This year, the academy boasts over 30 companies, marking its largest turnout yet.
- Students are building soft skills, doing mock interviews, and getting potential internships.
- High school students are prepping for college and their future careers.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
Students from Taft High School's Oil Technology Academy are preparing for college and their future careers. Inside the Oildorado building, high schoolers are gaining valuable insight into the industry, with representatives from nearly three dozen companies.
“Some students are doing mock interviews to get experience and some students are doing internship interviews for summer jobs,” says Ted Pendergrass.
Ted Pendergrass, coordinator of the Taft High Oil Tech Academy, told me that students here get to talk to 33 companies about career opportunities, skills that they need, and characteristics that they look for in employees. Pendergrass says many students have already gotten internships the previous year, like Phillip Vasquez, a senior in the Taft High Oil Academy.
“I’ve done a Chevron internship this year, I’m signing up for Crimson, Holmes Western, and Sentinel Peak,” says Phillip Vasquez.
Joining Phillip, students like Cassandra Huerta, a sophomore in the academy, express their gratitude for the opportunity to engage with numerous business leaders. She emphasizes the value of understanding their preferences and dislikes firsthand
“Being able to like be open-minded not just about one company but about many so having options basically,” says Huerta.
At career day, business leaders share what they're looking for in their workforce. Mia Cifuentes, a senior public affairs specialist at Berry Corporation, highlights the importance of students having one-on-one conversations with them.
“I think it’s really great to be able to see the community come together and be able to provide these resources to students that will potentially be their future employer, you know and stay in the community or come back after college so it’s really great to be able to expose them to the different opportunities they may have,” says Cifuentes.
Companies are interviewing students for summer internships, throughout this and next month.
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