Join the Safer Team!
Position Opportunities
Safer is seeking committed students to advance the movement against violence and toward social justice on Cal Poly's campus. As violence prevention and survivor support are inextricably tied to all other social justice movements, strong candidates will show passion & dedication toward social justice, anti-racism, anti-supremacy, and decolonization work.
Safer is hiring 10 students for the 2023-2024 academic year:
- 6 Interns
- 3 Program Leads
- 1 Graduate Assistant
Read below to learn more about these positions.
Volunteer Positions
Volunteer recruitment is quarterly during the academic year; just sign up for Safer Leadership Training and you will be in the volunteer pool after completion! Once you have been through our Safer Leadership training, you are eligible to become a Safer volunteer.
Volunteers are expected to attend monthly in-service meetings and volunteer 5 hours per quarter. Tasks include, but are not limited to:
- Assist with Action Month development & implementation
- Administrative tasks such as helping file papers, boothing at events, etc.
- Conduct research on various topics
- Take on a passion project of your own, with staff guidance!
Internships
Internship recruitment takes place annually, every spring quarter, for the upcoming academic year. Internships are unpaid 2-3 quarter positions, and they are expected to donate approximately 6-8 hours per week (or 12 hours if required by your department). Interns can receive class credit, or simply intern for personal professional development.
We are recruiting 6 interns for the academic year. These positions will be generalists, assisting with broader Safer programming. 1 intern will be focused on graphic design and marketing.
Click here to view the Internship Position Description.
Program Lead Positions
Program Lead recruitment takes place annually, every spring quarter, for the upcoming academic year. Leads are paid year-long positions, and they are expected to work approximately 10 hours per week. Leads contribute to broader Safer programming, while also overseeing a focus area.
We are recruiting 3 leads for the academic year, each with a different focus area. See the respective job descriptions below:
Graduate Assistantships
Graduate Assistant recruitment takes place annually during spring quarter for the following academic year. Students in graduate programs at Cal Poly can apply for a graduate assistantship! The graduate assistant works 20 hours/week, and closely with leads, interns, volunteers, and professional staff.
We are recruiting for 1 Graduate Assistant, with a focus on prevention education and volunteer management.
Click here to view the Graduate Assistant Job Description.
NOTE: A prerequisite for volunteering, interning, or working with Safer is our quarterly Safer Leadership Training - click here to learn more. This training can be completed prior to applying, or even during your first quarter working with us!
Spring Quarter 23-24 Recruitment Timeline
- Weeks 1-4: Recruitment/outreach
- Week 5: Applications due - May 5th, 5pm
- Week 6: Application review
- Weeks 7-8: Interviews
- Week 9: Team selection
- Week 10: Position confirmations
Positions will begin fall quarter 2023. We schedule a late summer Student Retreat before the academic year begins.
*Note: If you are seeking an academic department internship placement, please make sure to work with your department internship advisor, as timelines may differ from our standard recruitment.
Benefits of Working at Safer
- Be at the forefront of social justice & culture change at Cal Poly
- Hands-on experience with public health & community organizing
- Professional staff supervisors may provide references or write letters of recommendation for future job opportunities, graduate school, etc.
- This position may fulfill internship requirements for various majors
How to Apply
- Download the PDF application for your respective student status:
- Fully complete the application. Make sure your PDF saves properly and your answers are readable. If you have any questions about the application, feel free to ask (email jmacmart@calpoly.edu).
- Title your PDF application as follows: "FirstnameLastinitial_Application." Example: JenniferM_Application
- Update your resume. Make sure it is in chronological order - start with your most recent experience and work backward. One page is sufficient - we're just looking for a snapshot, and will learn more about you in your application and potential interview! Please save this document as a PDF, not a DOC. Cal Poly Career Services has some great resources for writing a resume and cover letter if you need help.
- Title your PDF resume as follows: "FirstnameLastinitial_Resume." Example: JenniferM_Resume
- Once you're ready to submit your application, send an email titled "Safer Application" to Jennifer at jmacmart@calpoly.edu by the deadline listed above. This email should include your complete application and updated resume (both saved as PDFs).
- We will reach back out to you within the following couple of weeks - whether we want to bring you in for an interview or not. Either way, we will be in contact! If, for whatever reason, we have not gotten back to you, you can always email us to check in.
Application & Interview Tips
- Remember: We're rooting for you! We are not eager to make this a stressful experience - for anyone. Applications and interviews should be exciting and empowering, and we hope to reflect that throughout our process. Whether or not you receive a job offer, we hope the experience is a net positive.
- We will send the interview questions to you in advance, to allow you some time to prepare your thoughts. We're eager to hear your passion areas, your experience, and your strengths - and we don't find that "gotcha" interview questions lend themselves to that. Please spend time beforehand thinking through your answers - it makes a big difference!
- Interviews are bidirectional. They're a chance for us to get to know you - and for you to get to know us! Feel free to bring questions along that you have about us - our program, our philosophy, our backgrounds. We want to make sure that working for Safer is a good fit for both of us.
- Career Services also has a great toolkit for interview preparation - peruse it as you have time!
If you have any questions about job descriptions, applications, interviews, or hiring - please feel free to reach out to us anytime at jmacmart@calpoly.edu.
Thank you for your interest in joining our team, and for your passion in ending gender- & power-based violence!
