Birmingham Career Center to Host Mobile Job Registration Event at Central Library on December 2

 

Looking for a job or career change? The Birmingham Career Center is coming on the road to the Central Library in downtown Birmingham to make your job search even easier. 

 On Thursday, December 2, between 11:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m., the Birmingham Career Center will host its first mobile registration event. Come to the first floor of the Central Library, 2100 Park Place, and register for employment in the Alabama Works program.

"This is a first," said Cheryl Williams, employment services supervisor for the Birmingham Career Center, located at 3216 Fourth Avenue South. 

"We have been in this environment (since the COVID-19 pandemic) in which not as many people come into our center anymore. We are going to places like the Birmingham Public Library where people congregate to help them get jobs." 

The Birmingham Career Center is a part of the Alabama Career Center System.  Attendees will be able to sign up on the Alabama Works site, a network where job seekers from government to the private sector and nonprofits can post jobs.  

During the Thursday, December 2 mobile registration event at the Central Library,  job seekers will be able to:

* Create an account in Alabama Works , the state's free online jobs jobs database.

* Get  assistance creating and/or updating resumes. 

 * Obtain information on training and job opportunities.

* Find out how the Birmingham Career Center can serve the public

Williams said with the Alabama and metro Birmingham unemployment rate so low, job opportunities are plentiful - especially with the Thanksgiving through New Year's Day holiday season upon us. The Alabama unemployment rate in October was 3.1 percent. That is down from 4.7 percent in October 2020. Metro area numbers aren't available yet, but the jobless rate in the Birmingham-Hoover metro was 2.9 percent in September.

Alabama Labor Secretary Fitzgerald Washington says labor issues related to the COVID-19 pandemic has made it tougher for employers to fill positions. 

"If we get people in our database, employers can contact them and they can find jobs," Williams said. "Everywhere you look, there are 'help wanted' signs up, but not enough people are coming in to apply. There are a lot of reasons why, but we want to make it easier for them." 

Williams said she hopes to put on mobile job registration events on a regular basis in metro Birmingham.

"If this works well at the Central Library, I may take this to Five Points West Library and Springville Road Library - and elsewhere," Williams said. "I would like to rotate this once a week at different places."