Jobtoberfest Returns to Balboa Park October 7: A Free San Diego Job Fair Open to Everyone

Published: September 8, 2026 | By LocalJobPage Team

SAN DIEGO, CA — One of the county's longest-running job fairs is back at Balboa Park, and it asks nothing of you at the door. Jobtoberfest returns to the Balboa Park Club on Wednesday, October 7, with employers and resource agencies working the room from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Free, no registration, no ticket, and every job seeker in San Diego is welcome through the door.

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📍 Event at a Glance

Event	Jobtoberfest Job and Resource Fair
Date	Wednesday, October 7, 2026
Time	11:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.
Location	Balboa Park Club, 2150 Pan American Road West, San Diego, CA 92101
Cost	Free
Format	In person, open floor of employer and resource tables
Registration	None required
Walk-ins	Welcome, and they are the whole point
Eligibility	Built for job seekers with disabilities, open to all job seekers
Host	San Diego Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities

🔥 Who's Working the Room

The published list leans on employers who hire in volume across the county, plus the agencies that can get you through a hiring process:

Sharp HealthCare, hiring well beyond clinical roles
City of San Diego Personnel Department and Parks and Recreation Therapeutic Recreation Services
MTS, the transit agency behind the trolley lines and the bus network
San Diego Community College District and the SDSU Research Foundation
San Diego Public Library
Goodwill San Diego County and PRIDE Industries
ComForCare Home Care and Children's Choice Dental Care
California Department of Rehabilitation, EDD, Access to Independence and Toward Maximum Independence

Public sector, health care, transit, education and home care in one room is unusual for a fair this size. The full current list is on the organizer's site, sdjobtoberfest.org.

⚠️ Read This Before You Go

No headcount has been published. The host has named the organizations attending, not the openings behind each table. Treat it as a room full of conversations rather than guaranteed offers. The exhibitor list is also not final until the day, so if one employer is your only reason for the trip, check the site that morning.

What you will not hit is a filter at the door. The fair is designed around job seekers with disabilities, but the organizers state plainly that all job seekers are welcome, and accommodations such as ASL interpreters and large-print floor plans are built into how it runs. No income cap, no student ID, no ticket.

💵 The San Diego Wage Line

Nearly every employer here hires inside city limits, and in San Diego that is worth real money. The City of San Diego minimum wage rose to $17.75 an hour on January 1, 2026, covering anyone who works at least two hours in a calendar week within city boundaries. California's statewide floor for 2026 is $16.90.

That gap follows the work, not the worker. A job at a Chula Vista or El Cajon address sits at the state floor; the same job in Kearny Mesa sits at the city rate. Where you live does not matter, and neither does where the company is headquartered. Both are legal floors and nothing more: competition in health care, transit and warehousing pushes real starting pay above either one, which is what a face-to-face conversation is for.

📋 How to Show Up Ready

Go early. Doors at 11, and the first 250 job seekers through get a gift. More usefully, the recruiters are still fresh.
Bring ten printed resumes. There is no printer in Balboa Park.
Plan the parking. Pan American Plaza and the Spreckels Organ Pavilion lots are closest, and the park tram stops at Pan American Plaza.
Know your availability cold. Transit, home care and hospital support roles all run shifts. Saying yes to weekends on the spot moves you up the list.
Close every table the same way: what is the next step, and who owns it. A name and a timeline beats a business card.

Veterans: There Is a Second Event That Week

Different event, different day, different requirements. DAV and RecruitMilitary have a San Diego veterans hiring event on the calendar for Thursday, October 1, six days ahead of Jobtoberfest. That one is restricted to U.S. veterans, transitioning service members, military spouses, and Guard and Reserve members, and it requires registration.

Published listings disagree on its venue and start time, so do not take a street address for it off a third-party calendar. Confirm and register through the organizer's official event page. For veterans, October is a two-fair month.

🔎 Where to Aim Before October 7

Walking in having already applied is the strongest position in the room. It turns "here is my resume" into "I applied Tuesday, can you pull it up."

Start here:

Frequently Asked Questions

When and where is Jobtoberfest 2026?

Wednesday, October 7, 2026, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., at the Balboa Park Club, 2150 Pan American Road West, San Diego, CA 92101.

Is it free, and do I need to register?

Free, and no registration is required. Walk in any time during the three-hour window.

Do I need to have a disability to attend?

No. The fair is organized by the San Diego Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities and designed with those job seekers in mind, but the organizers state that all job seekers are welcome.

Who is hiring at Jobtoberfest?

Sharp HealthCare, the City of San Diego Personnel Department, MTS, the San Diego Public Library, San Diego Community College District, SDSU Research Foundation, Goodwill, PRIDE Industries and others, plus state and nonprofit employment agencies. The list is not final until the day of the event.

What should I bring?

Printed resumes, a pen, your availability and identification. If you need an accommodation on site, contact the organizer ahead of time through their website.

What does minimum wage have to do with a job fair?

The address where the work happens sets your legal floor: $17.75 an hour inside San Diego city limits in 2026, and California's $16.90 elsewhere in the county. It is a fair question to ask at a table.

Get in the Room Before October 7

Create a free LocalJobPage account and get alerts the moment new San Diego roles post, so you walk into Balboa Park with applications already in. You can also browse every open San Diego job right now.

Employers hiring in San Diego? Post your openings on LocalJobPage and reach local candidates directly.

The Balboa Park Club sits a short walk off Pan American Plaza, past the Air and Space Museum. Three hours, no ticket, no filter at the door. There are not many Wednesdays in this county where that sentence is true.