Diablo Valley College hosted a Career & Transfer Fair on April 8 featuring representatives from more than 60 employers and universities for students to interact with.

According to a spokesperson at Transfer Services, around 600 students attended.

“We’re looking for students who are energetic, really excited to be around kids and talk to students, whether it’s high school, middle school, or 5th grade,” said a spokesperson for the nonprofit organization Teen Esteem, which focuses on suicide and drug prevention, based in Danville.

The group’s representative said they often speak with 9th grade health classes, as well as 7th and 5th grade science classes, offering a message of hope and empowerment while talking about topics ranging from media impacts to high-risk choices to establishing healthy relationships.

At the career fair, the spokesperson said Team Esteem is seeking ”someone who’s able to be particular in the classroom and not be afraid to bring the energy,” and added they want “students to empower others.”

Another organization at the fair, the Contra Costa Country Club, located in Pleasant Hill, was looking for summer hires and offered diverse options for employment — from restaurants and child care to work on the golf course.

“Coming here at the start of summer is where we get a lot of our hires, because they’re always looking for work around this time,” said a club spokeswoman.

One of the colleges participating at the event was Cal State East Bay, of Hayward. Its representative said, “We’re looking for students who are transferring close to home and looking to get their degree,” adding that the university offers 40 different majors and has a transfer acceptance rate of 87%.

Some of the students who turned up at the Career & Transfer Fair said they were unaware of it previously, and simply passed by and chose to partake because of the many opportunities they saw available.

One of those students was Andrew, a 22-year-old business major at DVC who came across the fair while setting up a table for his club. He said he has already put in multiple college admissions for the fall that are currently pending.

Andrew said he has lived in California his whole life and would prefer to stay in state for his studies, as he has yet to apply to an out-of-state school.

He talked about the job market and how he’d like to work in a job more tailored around his major, though he is open to learning new skills if it helps him gain employment.

“Who doesn’t like to learn new skills?” said Andrew. “It gets you more work.”

The event attracted not only DVC students, but also high school students who attended on field trips from Benicia High School and elsewhere in the area.

One of those students was Christian, 16, who said he was here to get a feel for some of the schools and specifically to see which of them offered a major in radiologic technology, as he wants to become a rad tech in the future.

Another DVC student at the fair was a 19-year-old business major named Thomas, who said he came across the event on the way to his next lecture.

A second-semester student looking to transfer next year, Thomas explained that he had just come down from visiting Boise State the week before the fair, and the weekend after, he planned to visit Colorado State.

He noted that DVC’s Transfer Services had prepared him nicely for transfer, saying “they definitely have everything you need in terms of classes, transferring, counseling.”

Though he’s already narrowed down his options to two schools he intends to transfer to, Thomas said he was interested in checking out some of the jobs and internships the fair had to offer. He looked for a job in hospitality over the winter without much luck, he added, but eventually landed a job in the restaurant industry.

Now, Thomas said, he wants a job that lines up with his business administration major as he continues to build a portfolio.

“I’d say I’d like it to be fun and have good pay,” he said, “but I would like to have an internship in my major so I can put it on my resume.”