As part of an ongoing effort to connect with local school districts and the community, the Town of Southampton’s Affirmative Action Task Force (AATF) has been holding informational sessions and workshops about employment opportunities in public service. This week Jacqueline Thornton, the Town’s Employee Relations Technician, will be speaking to Southampton High School Seniors about Town jobs available to youth for next year’s summer season. Every summer, the Town hires a large number of beach attendants, lifeguards, park attendants, parks maintenance workers, groundskeepers, and recreation aides to serve our residents and seasonal community. This is a good opportunity for high school students to get experience working in government at the local level. A representative from Suffolk County’s Department of Civil Service will also be present at the event, 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, the benefits of being a civil service employee, and much more.
“This program is the first effort resulting from an initiative undertaken by the Town’s AATF 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.
The AATF hosted a breakfast meeting at Southampton Town Hall this past September, where the Town’s department of Human Resources and members of its AATF 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 our neighboring Townships, to discuss public service employment with the schools’ representatives and learn from them how the Town can help develop the employees of tomorrow.
“The idea, part of a larger effort by the AATF 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.
For more information on this program, or if you have questions regarding Civil Service or employment at the Town, please feel free to contact Juan Becerra, Affirmative Action Officer, at 631-702-1921 or at jbecerra@southamptontownny.gov.