‘Job seekers who are ready and waiting for opportunities’

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This article was published 05/06/2024 (507 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

He’s got a stack of resumés, a folder showcasing his experience and a video presentation. Andrew Headley is ready for a job.

“This is me folding the papers, second is laminating — I’m good at doing laminating — and using the cutter,” he said, pointing to photographs he’d displayed. “And then it’s me executing inventory counts.”

Headley shared a table with a peer at SCE LifeWorks’ reverse job fair.

At the Wednesday event, Manitobans diagnosed with developmental disabilities advertised their skillsets at their own booths; potential employers came to them.

Headley was among the 42 job seekers who’d finished (or were finishing) a program called Project Search, through SCE LifeWorks.

SCE LifeWorks assists people with developmental disabilities in becoming job ready. Project Search is a year-long program where participants in their last year of high school undergo courses and internships within partner organizations.

Headley has spent the past year at the Health Sciences Centre in Winnipeg, one of Project Search’s two partner groups.

For his first three-month internship, Headley worked in the print services department. Earlier this year, for work placement No. 2, Headley became a laundry aide.

He’s finishing up his final internship as a storekeeper’s assistant in the province’s largest hospital.

“You can’t just stand around,” Headley said confidently. “My job is to … help them out.”

However, his time at HSC is almost up — so Wednesday at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights, alongside peers, he pitched himself to potential employers.

“I think we’re all doing pretty good and we’re handling it pretty well,” said Tyrel Crowe, patting their shirt pocket, which contained business cards.

Crowe described a transition after high school — from being regularly late to class in Garden City Collegiate to being fully present during Project Search.

“We have a lot of eager job seekers who are out to prove to the world that they’re capable and ready,” said Meaghan Jones, a Project Search teacher at HSC. “It’s really a phenomenal thing.”

Crowe is seeking a part-time job where they can “ease into the working world and just get adjusted” before finding full-time employment.

Students are taught soft skills, including interview preparation and working in teams, alongside their internships, noted Jones and Ashley Campbell, another Project Search teacher.

Campbell oversees a classroom within Manitoba Hydro Place. Participants are regularly placed at Hydro and other provincial government operations. While there, they might partake in administrative, warehouse and kitchen work.

“We do what we can to find jobs that are available for them (after),” Campbell explained.

Sometimes, it means a final internship outside the government organizations. Another attempt: the reverse job fair.

Wednesday’s event was SCE LifeWorks’ first since the COVID-19 pandemic began, and its largest — it invited graduating classes from 2020 through 2024.

Andrea Villeneuve, SCE LifeWorks employment development manager, estimated the organization sent job fair invites to hundreds of businesses. Roughly 45 confirmed they’d send representatives.

“I would really like to have more of those doors open,” Villeneuve said, adding job seekers have also been to traditional job fairs and sent their resumes elsewhere. “It’s really nice that we can get (them) all in one room.”

Each year, Project Search accepts 12 people. Their graduates continue to face “very prevalent stereotypes” and can be overlooked despite labour shortages, noted Jones.

“There’s sometimes a fear around this idea of supported employment — ‘Who’s providing support? How much support?’”

Project Search participants are taught to communicate challenges they may face, ways they can be supported and helpful tools they’ve previously used with employers.

“What we’re hoping is that employers will recognize that we do have an actual group of job seekers who are ready and waiting for opportunities,” Jones said. “They just need somebody to say, ‘You know what, I’m willing to take a chance.’”

Marjan Hakimi, a recruitment services adviser with Birchwood Automotive Group, conversed with people at their booths.

The auto company needs customer service, lot attendant and entry technician roles filled.

“I think that in our society in general, there’s a lot of misconceptions about folks who are living in this community, who they feel might not be able to work certain jobs,” Hakimi said. “It’s one of those things where you come here, you meet these candidates and you know that’s not the case.”

Sometimes, it takes meeting the job seekers to unlearn the misconceptions, Hakimi added.

The Health Sciences Centre, and organizations within the Manitoba government, have hired Project Search graduates; the employment has been life changing, both financially and for participating in community, Jones said.

She stood near Moyin Busari, who’s finishing a work placement as a hotel housekeeper.

“Any (job) that’s available, I’m happy to take it,” Busari exclaimed.

gabrielle.piche@winnipegfreepress.com