Job Fair Helps New Americans Integrate to Life in the U.S.

New Americans are getting the chance to meet with potential employers at the Moorhead Center Mall.

This is the second of the New American Job Fairs to be held.

More than a dozen employers were offering hundreds of potential jobs.

At the last job fair in March, a number of applicants walked away with jobs.

“We’ve gotten feedback that people have enjoyed the jobs they’ve gotten so far and so we’re trying to continue in that,” said Tristan Larson of the Moorhead Business Association.

The event is also a way for employers to learn about the abundant New American workforce in the area.

“We are trying to educate the employers also about who the New Americans are and how they can build that relationship with them,” said Hukun Abdullahi, who is the Director of the Afro American Development Association. “You know, we know they don’t speak English, but they can do the job.”

Whether or not applicants walk away with a job today, the job fair still provides a great opportunity for them to do some networking.

“I think networking is probably one of the biggest things we can do,” said Theresa Hazemann of the Rural Minnesota CEP. “So that they know where the Afro American Development Association is at, they know where their workforce center is at with Rural Minnesota CEP, they know where our adult basic education is at so they can work on their language skills.”

Even just attending the job fair can be career building.

“Even if they come today and have an opportunity to interview at two or three places, we look at that as education,” said David Hunstad of the Moorhead Business Association.

And every bit of experience will help these New Americans increase their chances of securing a job.

Organizers say they haven’t set a date for the next New American Job Fair but they plan on continuing to hold these events in the future.