SANTA ANA : Student Rapper Sets Tone for Job Seekers

Accompanied by a thumping bass beat that echoed through the Century High School auditorium Monday, senior Damien Hamler rapped a song he composed encouraging fellow students to make a good impression on potential employers.

“Hey, listen up buddy, because this ain’t funny! It’s how to get a job and make some money,” he called out to the crowd of 200 seniors from several high schools in the district. “Now when you finally choose, go to that place where you want to work and have a smile on your face. You must be confident, dressed nice and neat, have a shirt on your back and shoes on your feet.”

Students hooted, clapped and cheered at the end of Hamler’s “Job Game Rap,” which was part of a first-ever program sponsored by the Chamber of Commerce and the Santa Ana Unified School District designed to teach seniors how to apply, interview and dress for jobs.

Throughout the 2 1/2-hour seminar, the students learned how to write resumes, watched videos showing the right and wrong ways to interview for a job, listened to a motivational speaker and even watched a fashion show aimed at demonstrating how to dress properly for work.

The experimental program, funded entirely through cash donations and free labor provided by local businesses, included dozens of student volunteers from each district high school, said Chamber of Commerce representative Judy Bijlani, who served as emcee.

At the end of the program, she told the crowd: “Don’t just get a job, get a job that will lead to something because it’s something you’ll do for a long, long time. It should be something you love to do.”

Later, Bijlani said the chamber approached the district with the idea for the program to help prepare students for the rigors of job seeking in ways that schools may not be able to provide by offering the perspective of potential employers.

Iliana Soto, 17, said she enjoyed the presentations.

“Most of us were blank,” Soto said. “We didn’t know what to do, didn’t know how to look for a job. Now I know what to expect. I think it motivated students to get a job.”

She added that she appreciated the interest that businesses took in her and her fellow students.

“We’re the leaders of tomorrow, and they want to make sure that the young people who are going out there are prepared,” Soto said. “They have a lot to gain also.”