By Lorraine Jewett | Special to The Union
The County of Nevada launches a pilot program this month to cut in half the time it takes to fill vacant positions from 120 to 60 days. The county hires about 200 people each year for full-time and temporary jobs. Senior Management Analyst Susan Kadera identified ways to streamline the process by consolidating steps and establishing reasonable deadlines for job postings and interviews. “Job seekers from our community look to us to offer jobs that are meaningful, pay fairly, and are close to home,” says Susan. Adds Human Resources Director Steve Rose, “The overall shorter time to hire helps us not lose applicants to other employers. Also, the sooner a position is filled, existing staff doesn’t have to do the work of the vacant position as well as their own…”
Victoria Penate | Staff Writer
Stephen Baker, a local attorney who has been managing the Nevada County Bar Association’s Law Day High School Essay Contest for 14 years, said the best part of running the contest is seeing each year “what the kids are thinking.”
The contest, open to Nevada County high schoolers, asked that they write an essay of no more than 500 words based on the year’s prompt. The essays were then judged by a group of attorneys, who chose first, second, and third prize winners awarded $2,000, $1,000, and $500, respectively and two honorable mentions.
The 2020 prompt directed students to argue for a change they would like to make to the U.S. Constitution that they believe would strengthen democracy in the nation. The winning students were announced last month.