As part of MassHire Metro North Career Center’s partnership with the Department of Transitional Assistance, our Career Counselor, Bernadine Sears, worked closely with the Malden Family Engagement Worker, Marcella Tracton, to identify shared customers that would benefit from additional preparation for our Multi Industry job fair in Woburn in May. Our workshop instructor, Nancy Quinn, presented a Stand Out at a Job Fair workshop for the group and our Business Services Representative, Lisa Chakalos-Ryan, coordinated customers accessing interview outfits in our Clothing Closet immediately following the event. We had 4 attendees for this pilot. The jobseekers had prepared questions and were engaged in the process. Three out of four participated in the clothing closet. Two of the jobseekers made a full outfit for interviewing including a necklace to complete their outfits. Two of them were referred directly via our Business Services Representative to Customer Service/Medicaid positions in Medford. They have both been hired by Staffing Services Organization. They started on June 23rd, making $19.24/hr.
We will continue to scale this type of successful collaboration moving forward. This event helped serve shared DTA/Career Center customers and business in our region with hiring of qualified candidates.