Career Specialist

Description

The Connecticut Institute for Refugees, Inc. (CIRI) is a statewide nonprofit organization that assists refugees and immigrants resolve legal, economic, linguistic, and social barriers so that they become self-sufficient, integrated and contributing members of the community.

• CIRI is an eligible employer for the Public Interest Loan Forgiveness Program
• Diverse Culture
• Strong team of supportive staff
• Incredible mission of helping refugees and immigrants
• Long-Term Community Connections
• Medical/dental/vision/life/403B plan
• 13 paid holidays
• 20 days paid time off
• Honor work/life balance
• Promotes self-care

The US has a proud history of providing refuge to those fleeing war and persecution and is the largest resettlement country in the world. The Connecticut Institute for Refugees and Immigrants (CIRI) has received and resettled refugees for over fifty years. We are affiliated with the US Committee for Refugees and Immigrants (USCRI), one of nine national agencies that administer the refugee resettlement program nationally.

SALARY: $44,000

POSITION SUMMARY: The Career Development Specialist (CDS) contributes to the effort to help refugees, asylees and other immigrants find gainful employment and become self-sufficient. The CDS’s work is focused on helping clients enrolled in specialized refugee employment program establish and achieve their career development goals. The CDS works in concert with case managers on the Refugee Services Team to trouble‑shoot obstacles to clients' success in achieving and sustaining employment and attaining career goals.

The CDS helps maintain data collection and information sharing systems necessary for programming planning, reporting and continuity.

• Collaborate with clients on development and implementation of their service plans and career development plans.
• Coordinate with the client, Refugee Services Employment Outreach Specialist and the client’s primary Case Manager to identify appropriate job openings to individual clients.
• Assist clients with navigating the job application and interview processes, with the goal of empowering clients to do this independently.
• Train clients on all aspects U.S. work culture to ensure job retention and career development including work ethic, attitude, and skills. (hard and soft skills)
• Enhance and deliver CIRI’s Job Club and other pertinent trainings to program participants, including job readiness training, women’s job club, computer literacy classes, financial literacy training, and other specialized services.
• Identify scholarships and tuition reimbursement opportunities to further clients’ career goals.
• Empower individuals to complete ELL training programs, researching and developing custom solutions to barriers to ELL learning.
• Work closely with the Volunteer Coordinator to recruit volunteers for English tutoring.

• Maintain timely client data, including case notes, for enrolled client utilizing CIRI’s online data collection systems and paper case files.
• Develop an understanding of key grant programmatic requirements and help prepare statistical information for different reports that are required for specific grants and programs.

• Bachelor’s degree with a concentration in a relevant field (social work, teaching, anthropology, psychology, international studies, public health)
• At least 2 years’ experience in a client-facing employment position and / or 1 year experience working with vulnerable and/or underserved populations.
• Ability to provide in person services to clients in New Haven and Bridgeport community.
• Superior organizational, communication and prioritization skills.
• Exceptional interpersonal skills and proven ability to collaborate with other staff and service providers.
• Proficient in Microsoft Office Suite and experience working with client databases.
• Must have reliable car, valid U.S. driver’s license and valid auto insurance.
• Ability to have a flexible schedule to accommodate occasional after-hours services.