With benefits that go far beyond a simple win-win for employer and employee, out into the Frederick County community at-large.
鈥淥ur focus is more than helping people find jobs. It鈥檚 helping people prepare to access a career pathway that’s going to lead them to be self-sufficient. We鈥檙e here to connect local talent to local businesses through recruitment support to those businesses.鈥� So says Patty McDonald, Program Manager, Business & Career Services at Frederick County Workforce Services. One of those local businesses Workforce Services has connected local talent to is 榴莲视频app色版.
鈥淲orkforce Services has brought candidates into 榴莲视频app色版 we may never have met otherwise, candidates who have become rising stars here,鈥� offers Tara Julian, Human Resource Manager at 榴莲视频app色版. 鈥淚鈥檝e worked with Patty and her team on so many levels. The Workforce Services-榴莲视频app色版 connection has become a genuine partnership.鈥�
Frederick County Workforce Services is part of a larger network that endeavors to connect job seekers with job providers. Patty McDonald: 鈥淲e’re one of the country鈥檚 American Job Centers. But while the bulk of our program is funded through the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act, the county is, of course, an important stakeholder, as well.鈥�
As mentioned, the Workforce Services-榴莲视频app色版 partnership has produced some rising stars at 榴莲视频app色版. One of those rising stars worked as an engineer in her home country and wanted to transition into similar work here in the U.S. She attended a logistics and production course at Frederick Community College, and then Frederick County Workforce Services got her into a transitional work experience for two months at 榴莲视频app色版.
Again, Tara Julian: 鈥淏y the time her internship was finished, we knew we really liked her. Now she’s working at 榴莲视频app色版 as a quality engineer, and she’s a real up-and-comer here. If it wasn鈥檛 for Frederick County Workplace Services鈥攑artnering first with Frederick Community College and then with us鈥攚e might never have come across her. I can鈥檛 stress enough what an amazing partnership this is, and businesses that don鈥檛 take advantage of it are missing out.鈥�
And this is where the rubber meets the road when it comes to workforce development programs, i.e., training and coaching is all well and good, but you never really know a job until you鈥檝e done it, even if only for a short time. And that鈥檚 what the 榴莲视频app色版 connection provides鈥攖hat essential worker-bridge from the preparatory phase to the occupational phase.聽
But it goes beyond that. We all know from experience that sometimes the hardest part of getting a job can be getting the attention of the hiring manager. You may have all the needed training and experience to do a job, but for all your efforts at reaching out you can鈥檛 get a response. Because of the close connection between someone like a Patty McDonald and a Tara Julian鈥攌ey people at either end of the hiring process, with a relationship forged over time and with successful placements鈥攖his often-substantial hurdle can turn out to be no hurdle at all.
This Is Bigger Than the Both of Us
A successful placement, of course, has clear benefits for employer and employee, but there鈥檚 an added benefit for the employer outside of this simple, though critical, throughline. Tara Julian: 鈥淏y getting people in the door who otherwise might not have gotten in, through a well-respected program like Frederick County Workforce Services, all our employees see we care about them and their development. That is, even if a 榴莲视频app色版 employee didn鈥檛 come in through this program, they get that we care enough to reach out into the community, to support locals with different backgrounds and abilities who are willing to work. It鈥檚 an overall morale booster.鈥�
Another positive knock-on effect of the connections Workforce Services makes, not just with 榴莲视频app色版 but with other companies in the area, is to bolster the reputation of Frederick County as a place to do business in, to set up shop in鈥攕ecure in the knowledge that any new (or existing) business has a partner in local government willing and able to develop workforce talent. Patty McDonald: 鈥淭his aspect of the program is what really keeps us up at night. I’ve got two functional areas, but my largest is the business-services side: ensuring that as the county grows the businesses coming here have access to the talent they need. It all goes together.鈥�
And companies can get more support than they might think, including cost reimbursements for training that might be required to bring someone on board who isn鈥檛 100% ready to do the job yet. Again, Patty McDonald: 鈥淎 company might tell me, we need this very specific skill set, and I can tell them our programming can support them to train the people they need up to the skill level they need. In short, there’s always a way to engage with our organization. We’re busy, but we still hear we鈥檙e Frederick County鈥檚 best kept secret. We don’t want that. We want businesses to know about us and use the resources we have.鈥�
