Sacramento – A record number of students from Sacramento, Placer and Yolo Counties will get the opportunity to explore careers in public service this month with the kick-off of “Careers in Government Day 2021” (CIGD).
CIGD is an annual program led by a regional collaborative called Innovative Pathways to Public Service (IPPS), which is focused on closing California’s workforce gap. The IPPS collaborative is administered by the statewide nonprofit, the Institute for Local Government (ILG). The annual CIGD program was created to address the challenge that government agencies are having with filling the public sector workforce pipeline. This year, IPPS modified the CIGD activities and converted the program into a month-long, virtual effort with activities that accommodate social distancing requirements and distance learning.
Student participants in the CIGD program will network with local government and state agency staff, learn about the skills needed to join a government agency and explore high-demand public sector careers.
Educators and government sector employers are partnering on a series of events across the greater Sacramento region throughout the month of April with virtual activities that increase student awareness of diverse careers in the public sector including healthcare, environmental, digital media, security and more. Employer partners include city, county, state and public healthcare institutions. Educators include high schools and community college partners. Youth-serving organizations are supporting and coordinating the event as well. The revised format also has the added benefit of enabling organizers to serve more students.
More than a dozen CIGD virtual events are planned with focuses on jobs and career paths, resume building, leveraging social media for networking and current events impacting the future of public sector jobs including COVID-19 and social justice movements. Student participants will experience panel discussions, day-in-the-life sharing, virtual tours, games and interactive activities.
Below is a list of currently scheduled events:
Careers in Government Day 2021 – Schedule of Events:
Note: Given the evolving nature of school re-opening plans, some events are still being finalized. Due to student privacy requirements, these events are closed to the general public.
CIGD participants include high school and college students seeking future employment within the Capitol Region public sector organizations. Started in 2018, CIGD has always been popular with students and employers.
“My students enjoy interacting with professionals and learning directly from men and women in the public sector about how they got their job and what they do every day,” said Carlos Garcia, educator with Florin Law Academy. “Students connect better to workforce advancement concepts when they have tangible experiences and personal connections to careers. By interacting with people in professions they are most interested in, they can see themselves in that job someday.”
Even before COVID, local governments like cities, counties and special districts were facing a daunting wave of retirements that threatened the jobs pipeline for more than 2,500 local agencies across the state.
“One of the best recruitment strategies for local governments is to make government more relevant and accessible to the next generation,” said Erica L. Manuel, CEO and Executive Director of ILG. “Through programs like CIGD, we can create virtual experiences that are memorable and expand awareness of local government and how interesting and fulfilling public sector jobs can be. If we engage new talent, we can diversify the public sector’s workforce and build more sustainable talent pipelines.”
As a collaborative, IPPS is committed to ensuring that public sector employers shift how they attract, recruit and retain the next generation of employees. Doing so will advance equity and more inclusive economic development.
"The City of Rancho Cordova is proud to sponsor this year's CIGD," said Rancho Cordova City Manager Cyrus Abhar. "CIGD gives Rancho Cordova students the opportunity to explore a pathway into a government career, gain workforce knowledge and civic skills and learn how to be an active member of our community. By supporting our students through programs like CIGD, we help create a well-educated workforce that advances our local economy. We look forward to welcoming the next generation of skilled, creative and diverse leaders."
About IPPS
Innovative Pathways to Public Service is a cross-sector collaborative of organizations focused on youth and workforce development including leaders from education (K-12 and community college), workforce development, municipal and state government agencies and regional community and business partners that have aligned efforts for more intentional, effective pathways into public service. Founded in 2018, the CIGD program was created to provide experiential career opportunities for the next generation of the public sector workforce. Visit https://pathways2publicservice.org to learn more.
About Institute for Local Government
The Institute for Local Government (ILG) is the non-profit training and education affiliate of the League of California Cities, California State Association of Counties and the California Special Districts Association, which represent thousands of local agencies across the state. ILG helps local officials and staff navigate the constantly changing landscape of their jobs by offering training, technical assistance, written resources and facilitation services specifically designed for local agencies. ILG administers the IPPS collaborative as part of its Workforce & Civics Education pillar. Visit https://www.ca-ilg.org to find out more.
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