Cities have a vested interest in making sure their citizens are gainfully employed. Citizens making good money at a job managing packaging systems have more income to pay taxes with. More tax money means more money to invest in city infrastructure and services, thus making the city more attractive. Strangely, most cities do nothing at the beginning of this cycle. Mobile, Alabama is not one of them. Though the Mobile Works program, the city has invested nearly 20 million dollars into helping its citizens find worthy employment.
The program is run jointly between the education, labor, and business sectors of the city with some help from community leaders who know what the problems are. The program offers training and information for workers who are laid off or underemployed, with the prospect of eventually becoming retrained and employed as a cable glands producer or other skilled worker that could be of benefit to city industry.
There are several different initiatives within the program that you might make use of. Incumbent Worker Training reimburses business for 50% (up to $15,000) of any training they have to give to existing workers, which encourages them to retrain rather than lay off employees when a Y strainers factory switches gears to make new products. On the Job Training for new workers is also available for this kind of reimbursement as well, encouraging businesses to hire more people.
There are also parts of the program that benefit the workers directly rather than the employers they are hoping to be hired by. Individual Training Scholarships are available to workers who are looking to get a degree or diploma either because they want to enter a career or because they need a new career. Funding lasts two years. There's also a Youth Works program to help youngsters learn about careers in fields like electronic manufacturing and to help them get a GED or the training they need to be successful.
Help doesn't stop at training, however, because training alone won't get you a job. The Mobile Works program also hosts job boards and links to other job boards that help those out of work find positions to apply for. Their site also gives advice on how to get the job. This includes how to write your experience with industrial water treatment chemicals in resume form, how to do a cover letter, how to conduct yourself during an interview, and links to where affordable interview clothes can be found.
| 