Author and management consultant Robert Fritz wrote: “Too many young people are being taught to give up their dreams before they have any experience attempting to pursue them.”  His words served as the theme for the 3rd Annual Hire-A-Youth Commencement Ceremony on August 5th, 2011 at Qualcomm headquarters in San Diego.

Hire-A-Youth graduates from the San Diego Job Corps Center and San Diego Unified School District were honored at the ceremony after completing a rigorous five-week paid internship at the company. They worked with staff members in seven of Qualcomm’s departments, receiving “on the job training”, while improving their job interviewing and resume writing skills.

Students were afforded the opportunity to work for the San Diego-based company which has annual revenue and assets in the billions of dollars, while employing more than 18,000 full-time, part-time and temporary employees operating in 150+ locations worldwide.  For the past 13 years Qualcomm has also been on Fortune’s list of the “100 Best Companies to Work for in America”.

One of the commencement speakers, San Diego Job Corps student Steven Williams, is enrolled in Job Corps’ Office  Administration Career Technical Training program.  He shared his motivation for taking part in the program. “I wanted to experience a corporate environment,” he stated, and was assigned to the company’s Human Resources Department. “I learned a lot this summer, which I will implement for the rest of my life to be successful. My work made me realize the importance of ‘innovate, execute, and partner’, which is part of Qualcomm’s culture”. A memorable occasion for him was attending a meeting with Qualcomm employees from China, India, and Taiwan.  “I was struck by the diversity of Qualcomm’s staff,” he added.

Qualcomm’s Vice President for Global Business Development Howard Wright shared his personal story with the graduates, while encouraging them to embrace the opportunity they were given, and to earn it. He praised the students for what they have accomplished and advised them to focus on their goals.  He concluded his remarks by stating he would welcome all of the students as Qualcomm employees.

Twenty year old San Diego Culinary Arts student Cesar Nino was assigned to Qualcomm’s Hospitality Services Department.  “I learned a lot about business administration this summer,” he advised.  “It will be invaluable to me as I plan on opening my own restaurant in the future.”  Cesar’s performance was recognized during the ceremony by Master of Ceremonies Vance Anderson, the coordinator of the program and part of Qualcomm’s Staffing Department.  He announced that Cesar has been offered a position with Culinart, a company which provides food services to Qualcomm. Cesar is scheduled to graduate from Job Corps in November, 2011

During the ceremony, Mark Cafferty, President and CEO of the San Diego Workforce Partnership shared his vision with the graduates and offered encouragement. “If you can see it, you can do it”, he stated.  The San Diego Workforce Partnership was worked with Qualcomm for the past three years to insure the success of the program. Mr. Cafferty advised he was proud to work with Qualcomm and expressed how proud he was of the graduates.

All nine Job Corps graduates agreed that the Qualcomm internship was a very positive, rewarding experience for them.  “Everyone we met at Qualcomm was very welcoming, and we learned a lot about the corporate world,” stated Job Corps Computer Tech student Shelbi Jarvis.  “We even had an opportunity to meet Dr. Paul Jacobs, the Chairman and CEO of Qualcomm, which was very exciting.”