Saturday, Feb. 23, 2013

Hiring has begun for 2,400 jobs at San Joaquin facility

By J.N. Sbranti

jnsbranti@modbee.com

 Hiring has begun to fill 2,400 positions at the soon-to-open prison hospital in southern San Joaquin County. Most of those jobs will go to folks with medical training, and current or recently laid-off state employees are expected to snag many of them.

Nevertheless, the California Health Care Facility, Stockton, will bolster employment and revenue in the Northern San Joaquin Valley for decades to come.

The 400-acre compound southeast of Stockton is just off Highway 99 and about 15 miles north of the Stanislaus County border.

The state has spent $900 million and two years building the massive prison medical facility, which it expects to complete in May. The first of 1,722 inmates are scheduled to move in in July.

Those prisoners will be convicted felons who have chronic medical or mental health problems. To provide them around-the-clock treatment, the state expects to spend about $220 million per year on employee salaries and benefits.

About 80 core administrative team members are on staff, and they're hunting for all kinds of employees — from psychiatrists who will be paid up to $282,000 per year to beginning secretaries who will earn more than $32,000.

Many guards, groundskeepers, kitchen workers and specialists such as barbers and locksmiths will be needed, too. More than 400 psychiatric technicians — who need less than two years of college training to prepare themselves for jobs that pay more than $56,000 per year — also will be hired.

All 2,400 state jobs will be full time with generous benefits, and they'll be subject to civil service regulations designed to make the hiring process fair.

Getting on civil service lis

Civil service jobs are rare in Stanislaus because neither the state nor the federal government employs many people in the county. As a result, Stanislaus job seekers may not fully understand what it takes to get onto a government hiring list.

"We just haven't had many local opportunities for civil service jobs here until now. This is something new and positive," said Jeff Rowe, work force development director for the Stanislaus Economic Development and Workforce Alliance. "Now that we have a large state facility just across the county line, it gives people in Stanislaus a reason to consider getting on the civil service list."

Getting on such lists requires taking a state "exam" that essentially ranks how qualified a person is to work in any of more than 700 job categories. Before people can apply for any state job opening, they must complete the appropriate exam and get on the right list.

Here's the catch: Exams aren't always available when job openings occur.

"It's important people get on that civil service list in advance because by the time they find out there's a job opening they want, it may be too late (to take the exam) and get on the list," Rowe said.

That, unfortunately, may be the case for many people who might want to apply this spring for jobs at the prison.

Example: The state recently finished administering its exams for custodians, cooks and warehouse workers — all of whom will be needed at the Stockton facility.

"Those exams could be offered again," said Bill Sessa, spokesman for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. "People should be looking at the website constantly to see when exams are offered."

There are three websites job seekers need to check for job opportunities at the Stockton prison, and each one lists different jobs with specific application procedures.

Read more here: http://www.modbee.com/2013/02/22/2590304/2400-jobs-on-the-way-at-state.html#storylink=cpy