On February 2nd 2016, San Jose Job Corp’s Student Government President Vincent Gelacio spent the day shadowing City of San Jose’s Vice Mayor Rose Herrera and her staff. Spending the entire work day at San Jose City Hall hearing about career opportunities, meeting city officials and representatives of various departments.
Vice Mayor Herrera talked about getting elected and what it’s like to serve as a public official.

“The job shadow day exposed me to possible career options I might not have considered in public service and let me know that working in government doesn’t necessarily mean one has to be interested in politics, said student government president Vicent Gelacio.
Job Corps’ job shadows day like this lets students know that more opportunities are in government and in positions of leadership. The amount of time city officials give to the city was one of the things that surprised Vincent.

“It’s inspiring how supportive they can be,” he said. “Another thing that surprised me is they are not all from top Ivy League universities.”
The event taught him about the different departments, and he said he thought it was amazing how they have separate people in charge of separate things but they all work together toward a common goal — keeping the city functioning. If he worked for the city, he said he would want to work in public policy.

“I really want to help unfortunate people get off the streets, and I really liked what they said that when you are on City Council you are working and interacting with the people and I never thought of it that way,” he said, adding that serving on the City Council would be something he would consider in the future.