San Mateo boot camp draws job seekers

Speakers such as Jeff Bell, Donna Fedor, Pablo Fuentes, Wayne Rainey and Rebecca Kieler also gave presentations on topics ranging from how to best get motivated, common mistakes job seekers make, how to use a smartphone to find work and the best ways to “ace your interview.”

Kieler, a career strategist, told a packed room of job seekers at the San Mateo County Event Center not to be afraid to tout their accomplishments, keep it brief during the interview, never defend or argue and always ask questions.

“There is almost nothing you can’t ask in an interview except ‘when is my vacation,’” Kieler said.

She also said that networking and referrals are the tops ways to get a job in the Bay Area.

Using the Internet only, she said, is not the best way to find work.

Some of the employers at the boot camp included Virgin America, Hyatt Regency San Francisco Airport, IKEA, Wells Fargo, Citibank, Blue Shield of California and Lowe’s among dozens of others.

Merlyn Gill, 57, of San Bruno was featured as one of the former attendees of the boot camp who was able to find a job.

Gill now works at Lowe’s after he was unemployed for almost two years. He owned his mail center shop for about seven years before he had to close down the business and was a union carpenter before that.

Gill, a veteran, was most worried that his age would prevent him from finding a good job.

“I was grinding the wheels like everybody else here,” Gill said.

But the boot camp, he said, provided him with the resources to secure his job at the South San Francisco Lowe’s.

He attended the job fair yesterday to inspire other job seekers.

Lowe’s is currently hiring drivers, loaders and in customer service at its three stores on the Peninsula.

Speier, D-San Mateo, was in Washington, D.C. yesterday but spoke at the event using Skype.

silverfarb@smdailyjournal.com

(650) 344-5200 ext. 106