Megan Weiss, director of Family of Woodstock’s Kingston Cares program, was present to solicit for more than 50 jobs, ranging from one-week and part-time to full-time. Available are positions for after-school programs, door-to-door interviewing, Student Success center workers at the high school, summer program coordinators and more. “I want kids who have already been through the [Kingston Cares] at the EveretteHodgeCenter program already and now want to work for it,” said Weiss. “They will also know all the kids, but must be able to take a different role, supervise them. Go from being one of them to being able to put one of them in time-out if they have to.” Weiss said along those lines two young girls came bouncing up to her, exclaiming their excitement that they are now old enough to work for her.
Skills acquisition
Trades-training as a saving grace was a recurring theme among the attendees. Marcus Wilson 20, of the Bronx, is a Job Corps graduate, where he learned useful carpentry skills. Wilson is looking for a job in Kingston because he is on probation here, and said his probation officer suggested that if he got a job at a national chain in Kingston then he may be able to have it transferred back to the Bronx. “It sure feels good to make money,” said Wilson to a friend in the hallway. Wilson said he was hoping to land a job stocking shelves, construction or doing anything physical, and would be comfortable making $9 an hour, as long as he was working. Wilson already has received several callbacks and has two second interviews. Wilson said his friends don’t like or appreciate the jobs they have, but he would. When asked what he could do if he knew he could not fail, he replied, “doctor,” but felt that he was too old to be able to pursue it. Wilson did feel confident that his Job Corps training is what interested prospective employers and gave him an edge.
Elijah Porter, 18, of Kingston is graduating from Kingston High School this June and is on a waiting list for Hudson Valley Community College in Troy to study electrical engineering. Porter’s best friend and “brother” DeShawn Russell, 18, of Kingston has been teaching himself how to fix cars while working on his GED and would like get into Ulster BOCES’ automotive program, which is where Porter learned his electrical engineering skills. When Porter was asked about his dream job, he replied, “Honestly? I want to be a hard-working man, whatever that is.” Porter said he wants the American dream of a house, wife, family, though he already is a father. “I want the ‘white picket fence’… only in blue.”
Kerrie Fitzgerald, 25, of Kingston is a single mom of a 5-year old. She was gleeful with hope that she may have landed her first personal care aide position at the job fair because she is one of the few willing to work weekends and 60 hours per week. Fitzgerald was much older than the fair’s target population, however said that jobs for certified nurse aides and personal care aides are snatched up immediately. Fitzgerald said that she does not get callbacks whether she applies online or walks in to apply and is frustrated. “Or they make it sound like you got the job but then they never call.” Further, she said, she is trained, but lacks the experience. “I don’t have any experience but how am I supposed to get a job if I don’t have experience?”
For more information on UlsterWorks’ employment training workshop schedule, visit ulsterworks.com.
