American Bakery baker Ellaine Aranas and production employee Pol F. Ignacio are seen at their table during Goodwind Career Day at the Micronesia Mall in Dededo on Saturday, Aug. 23, 2025.
Photo by Frank San Nicolas/The Guam Daily Post
HAGÅTÑA (The Guam Daily Post) — On Saturday, two separate job fairs — the Goodwind Career Day and McDonald’s of Guam — attracted a mix of first-time job seekers, returning workers and experienced professionals. The Guam Daily Post spoke with job seekers searching for opportunities that balanced job demands with personal needs.
The format of both job fairs offering on-the-spot job interviews was well received by interested applicants who were happy to cut down the wait time between submitting an application, scheduling the interview and receiving feedback that’s typically associated with the job hunt.
“It’s always good to try to get that on-site interview on this because even if they say that you accept the resumes email-wise on this, there’s never a guarantee that you will get called in for interviews. So having the on-site interview on this here is actually a plus. I really like the fact that not only are you able to turn in the resume on this, but the fact that you can actually get the interview on the spot on that one there is definitely a plus on this,” Goodwind job seeker Corey Granillo said.
Granillo, 34, applied for a position as a billing specialist and in human resources, two fields he has expertise in.
“I’m looking for things that are just familiar to my knowledge in terms of, like, calculations or just basic accounting on this one here. I have majored in mathematics…. So, with just that knowledge, I would love to kind of like experience new things on-site experiences. So that’s why I wanted to try to aim for the headquarters in this case in terms of billing specialists and human resources — anything that just helps with, like, prior knowledge of Microsoft in this case here, I want to try to help with what I know best and what I want to try to learn from that experience. Whether I make mistakes on this, it’s just a matter of learning from that mistake and trying to make sure I better myself as a human being,” Granillo said.
Others, including Allan Anthony Bargender, 35, who applied and interviewed at the McDonald’s of Guam Job Fair, were just trying to get their foot back in the door in the workforce.
“I hope I did good. I am looking to get back to work and get back to life.” Bargender told the Post he had been out of a job for “a while” as he experienced personal hardships.
He was not just looking for a job but employment with a future. “One that would really help me in life, in the future,” Bargender said.
Finding the right fit was a big factor for job seekers on Saturday who also wanted accessible and flexible employers along with finding comfort and connection in the prospective work cultures.
For Jacqueline Toyama, the right job was about balancing job demands with personal needs. Toyama, who applied at Goodwind for a cashier position, turned down an offer.
“Unfortunately, it did not meet my requirements. So therefore, I declined the position,” Toyama said. “I applied for cashier, and they wanted me to do other things other than cashier, so that’s not something that I would want to get into.”
Currently employed at Kmart, Toyama was seeking a part-time cashier position with a lighter workload.
“I’m doing a five-hour shift, which is more suitable for me, but then I want something with a little smaller work area just because Kmart is big, right? So, I want something more like a small business, but then, you know, I wasn’t able to find that today,” she said.
The Goodwind Career Day featured multiple companies under the Goodwind Development Corporation, including American Bakery, Micronesia Mall and Guam Beachfront Residences.
Available positions included billing specialist, accounting assistant, human resources clerk, cashier, packer, baker helper, administrative assistant, engineering technician, information technology assistant, marketing, and purchasing agent, to name a few.
McDonald’s, which partnered with the Guam Department of Labor, had a wide range of positions across the island, including entry-level and middle management roles as well as skilled labor positions in heating, ventilation, air conditioning, and electrical.