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Like many of their classmates at Central High School, seniors Francisco Ruiz and Eric Velasco—two of more than 120 students who participated in Tuesday’s fourth annual “Rock the Mock” career readiness event—are already out job hunting.So when two dozen local business leaders came out to their campus to offer support and tips for securing employment, they soaked in as much as they could to take into their next job interview.“The (mock) interview helped me a lot,” said Ruiz, 18, who sat with Velasco and answered a slew of questions during their 14-minute interview time slot. “I’ve gotten to know what questions to work on.”Fellow seniors Gina Salazar and Alexa Mateo, both 17, felt the same way as they jointly fielded questions from Heritage Bank representatives Katie Garcia, an assistant vice president, and Alyssa Garcia, a credit analyst.“Confidence is key,” Mateo said.Students at Central were broken into groups of 30 or so and shuttled between different rooms on campus where local business leaders led workshop sessions in interviewing, interview preparation, business dress and the handshake challenge.The event was started by Chamber of Commerce President John Horner in an effort to connect business leaders with local youth and help pass along some of the skills that have made them successful adults.“When I joined the Chamber four years ago, I came in wanting to get our business leaders more proactive with the education community,” said Horner of his brainchild, which has employers heading to all three Morgan Hill Unified School District high schools over the next two months. “This year we’re bringing people to the schools so we can reach more students.”The first few years a select number of students went to the headquarters of Morgan Hill-based Specialized Bicycle Components—which co-sponsors the event along with BookSmart—to take part and reap the benefits. The group will head to Ann Sobrato High School on Jan. 14 and then end their tour Feb. 10 at Live Oak High School.“We want them to know that they all have something to offer and that there are businesses and people out there that want them as part of their team,” Horner said. “We want them to know that adults in this community are interested and care about them. These are successful people with good-paying jobs who are out here today.”Velasco, 18, retained valuable input from his second of four workshop sessions—this one titled “Dress to Impress” and led by Cherisse’s Hair Salon owner Cherisse White—where he learned about the appropriate attire to wear for an interview.“You don’t get a second chance to make a good first impression,” said White, who has more than 30 years of career experience, including the last 12 running her own business. “It takes 17 (subsequent encounters) to change your first-impression opinion” of an individual, she added.Before rotating through the workshops, students were treated to the success story of Edith Ramirez, the Principal Planner for Economic Development for the City of Morgan Hill.“This is a very special day,” said Ramirez, addressing the Central student body inside the school’s multipurpose room. “(The people here today) care about you and they care about your future.”At the age of 14, Ramirez immigrated with her family from Mexico City into the United States, where she lived in a garage, didn’t know how to speak English and worked in the fields. Her first job was picking cherries and then cutting apricots.“I knew that I didn’t want that job,” said Ramirez, who dreamed of attending a university once she completed high school. Through hard work and determination, she learned English, graduated high school and proved her doubters wrong by earning a full academic scholarship to San Jose State University. In college, she earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees.“Do not let anybody tell you that you can’t do it,” she said. “But it’s up to you to achieve what you want. It just doesn’t come to you. You have to work hard. It’s up to you to get it.”Central students got a crash course in how to prepare for a job interview from human resource specialist Brenda Glimpse as well as how to give a proper handshake when introducing oneself at a job interview.“We want to make sure that each student properly knows how to handshake and greet,” explained Chamber Board Chairman Rich Firato, who has run Firato Janitorial for the last 32 years. “You’d be surprised how many people don’t know.”As part of his presentation, Firato also showed each group of students a “Six Steps of Success” video hosted by former California Governor and Hollywood actor Arnold Schwarzenegger.“The skills that the business people bring here today are essential to (these students’) success,” said MHUSD Superintendent Steve Betando, who was on hand for the event along with new MHUSD Board President Bob Benevento. “lt’s not only giving them the skills to get the jobs, but also to keep the jobs as well.”Central Principal AnnMarie Cobarrubias, in her first year at the helm of MHUSD’s continuation school, was especially impressed with the presenters and how receptive her students were to their pointers.“I think it’s imperative for them to see the support from the community. It’s vital to their future success,” Cobarrubias said. “They’re definitely getting a lot of skills and information with each session. The people here may be on the opposite end of the desk (during a job interview) one day.”

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