Portland Community College | Portland, Oregon

Marilyn Ceaser’s career was just a bump away

Photos and Story by James Hill

PCC student Marilyn Ceaser literally crashed into her new career.

During last year’s Cascade Job Fair, she was able to find a job that related to her interest in chemistry. She was browsing an employer’s table when she stepped back and bumped into the Bureau of Land Management’s booth.

It was love at first sight for the 30-year-old Ceaser as she immediately found an opportunity to utilize her chemistry training at PCC through the BLM’s Student Career Experience Program. When she completes her four-year degree at either the University of Portland or Portland State, she’ll have a full-time job waiting for her at the federal agency.

"I’m elated," Ceaser said. "It makes me feel great to be able to get this job. The best feeling is being the best of all of the applicants. I’m happy to get the opportunity.

"The BLM had different job openings and there was this one in eastern Oregon where somebody was retiring and they needed to train someone new," she added. "When I graduate I’ll take over his position when he retires"

What is great for Ceaser is that she is allowed to study and then train on-the-job during the summers. She gets up to $3,000 to pay for her education each school year through the BLM program.

"I get to learn about the things I need to all year long, and then in the summer I get to put it into practice," she said.

Her job entails exploring safety issues, and ensuring that OSHA and EPA regulations are enforced, to name a few. "There are many things that come with the job," Ceaser said. "The best part about last summer was that I put together a pesticide report and researched all of the different regulations for the BLM. I put into action all of the things I’ve learned at PCC."

More than 60 employers reflecting hundreds of employment opportunities will be featured at the upcoming Ninth Annual Cascade Job Fair. The fair will be held from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Tuesday, May 2 in the Physical Education Building gym at the Cascade Campus, 705 N. Killingsworth Street.

It’s a perfect avenue to a new career for people like Ceaser. She grew up a few blocks from the Cascade Campus in north Portland. She is the first in her family to get a degree, and credits her father and mother for emphasizing the benefits of a college education.

"They told me that to really succeed in life you need an education," Ceaser said. "The job fair is great because you never know what opportunities are there. You learn that there are so many jobs out there that you’d be foolish not to go."