Southampton Employment Workshops Connect Students

As part of an ongoing effort to connect with local school districts and the community, Southampton Town’s Affirmative Action Task Force has been holding informational sessions and workshops about employment opportunities in public service.

Last week, the town’s employee relations technician Jacqueline Thornton spoke to Southampton High School seniors about town jobs available to youth next summer. Southampton hires a number of beach attendants, lifeguards, park attendants, parks maintenance workers, groundskeepers, and recreation aides in the vacation months. A representative from Suffolk County’s Department of Civil Service was also present to give students a broad overview of how civil service works, how to navigate the department’s website, how to apply for civil service tests, and the benefits of being a civil service employee.

The Affirmative Action Task Force hosted a breakfast meeting at Southampton Town Hall in September, where the Department of Human Resources and members of the task force hosted high school counselors from five schools in the township — Westhampton Beach, Hampton Bays, Southampton, Bridgehampton, and Pierson — as well as representatives of Riverhead and Eastport-South Manor school districts in neighboring townships to discuss public service employment with the schools’ representatives and learn from them how Southampton can help develop the employees of tomorrow.

“The idea, part of a larger effort by the Affirmative Action Task Force in promoting public service, was to give counselors the tools to teach students about the option of civil service both while in school as well as after graduation,” said affirmative action officer Juan Becerra.

“This program is the first effort resulting from an initiative undertaken by the town’s Affirmative Action Task Force to forge a greater relationship between the town and its local school districts in order to educate and encourage students to consider careers in public service,” said Councilman John Bouvier, liaison to the task force.

For more information, or for questions regarding civil service or employment at the town, contact Becerra at 631-702-1921 or jbecerra@southamptontownny.gov.

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