Employment Specialist

Center for Employment Opportunities; Riverside (CA); On-site; USD 47,000 - 58,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical and dental coverage

Professional development opportunities

Paid parental leave

Job summary

Center for Employment Opportunities (CEO) seeks an Employment Specialist in Riverside, CA for an in-person role focused on expanding employment opportunities for participants.

You will steer employer cultivation, engagement, and placement across two tracks, supporting individuals with prep, job search, and placement while collaborating with vocational staff and partners.

Qualifications

• 2+ years of experience in workforce development, recruitment, or sales/account management.
• Skilled in networking and cultivating lasting relationships with people and businesses.
• Experience using data or market research to guide practice and decision-making.

Responsibilities

• Envision, develop, and implement a strategic plan for placement services for a local office.
• Conduct reviews of existing CEO partnerships, evaluate employer demand, and leverage relationships.
• Achieve weekly, monthly, quarterly and annual placement goals as per contracts.
• Research and build relationships with prospective employers willing to hire CEO participants.
• Maintain relationships with existing employer partners and stakeholders.
• Schedule and conduct daily prospecting, cold calls, and face-to-face meetings.
• Serve as the liaison among employers, participants, and criminal justice partners.
• Produce up to 5 monthly placements and support job readiness and placement.
• Screen and match participants’ skills and customize resumes for opportunities.
• Manage a caseload and coach participants through applying, interviewing, and hiring.

Skills

Workforce development

Networking

Data-driven decision making

Job description

This is an in-person role with the expectation that staff report to a CEO site, as the majority of participant interactions are conducted in person.

The Opportunity

The Employment Specialist increases the range of employment opportunities available to our participants using participant interests, experiences, and their ambitions as a foundation for participant job placements, and more broadly, for the identification and cultivation of potential employers for prospect portfolios.

As part of our mission, we strongly encourage individuals who have lived experience of incarceration or involvement in the justice system to apply for this role.

Role Tracks

The Employment Specialist role operates on one of two tracks, based on site and regional staffing needs:

• Account Specialist track: focuses on employer cultivation, engagement, and placement support, partnering with dedicated vocational staff members on the participant relationship.
• Full Cycle track: combines employer cultivation, engagement, and placement with direct participant case management, owning the full relationship from job readiness through placement.

Who We Are

The Center for Employment Opportunities (CEO) provides employment services to people recently released from incarceration. Across the United States, 8,000-9,000 people participate in CEO each year, transitioning to employment that supports themselves, their families, and their communities.

What began as a demonstration project of the Vera Institute of Justice in the 1970s to address employment barriers facing the formerly incarcerated following release in New York City has grown into the leading reentry employment organization in the country, where over 30,000 formerly incarcerated individuals have secured full-time employment since 1996.

Who You Are

• You have demonstrated commitment to CEO’s mission and interest in working in a fast-growing and results-oriented nonprofit environment
• You are passionate about helping individuals become the best version of themselves; interested in guiding individuals to achieving their career goals through a balance of accountability and empathy
• You have a deep interest in re-entry or criminal justice reform
• You are comfortable with providing the feedback and support necessary to facilitate the development of participant knowledge and skills
• You have the ability to anticipate problems, evaluate them, and determine and implement solutions
• You have the ability to take into account and analyze various points of view and data to form a perspective appropriate to a particular context
• You have excellent interpersonal and written communication skills with the ability to adjust to particular personalities and interaction styles on the spot
• You are self-motivated, diligent, resilient, and demonstrate stamina and vigor as you hold yourself accountable to deadlines and outcomes, even in the face of adversity or setbacks
• You are comfortable working under pressure and meeting deadlines despite opposition or setbacks
• You are highly organized with top notch time management skills and the ability to juggle multiple priorities seamlessly or ask for support with prioritization when needed
• You are comfortable learning new technologies that an organization adopts/implements

EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE

• Employment Specialist:
  • You have 2+ years of experience in workforce development, recruitment, or sales/account management, a role in which you needed to meet performance goals on a regular basis
  • You are skilled in networking and cultivating lasting relationships with people and businesses, helping them understand how our work can help them achieve their business strategy and goals
  • You have experience in looking at a set of data or market research and use it to guide your practice and decision-making

Responsibilities

Key responsibilities of the Employment Specialist include but are not limited to:

Business Analysis, Relationship Cultivation and Maintenance

• Envision, develop, and implement a strategic plan for placement services for a local office that ensures CEO meets its participant placement metrics
• Conduct reviews of existing CEO business partnerships regularly, evaluate employer demand and usage of CEO services, and determine improvements and ways to leverage relationships with employers
• Achieve weekly, monthly, quarterly and annual placement goals in accordance with CEO’s contractual obligations
• Research, conduct outreach to, and build relationships with prospective employers willing to hire CEO participants and who have hiring needs that match the skills, experience, and interests of our overall participant cohort
• Maintain relationships with existing employer partners
• Schedule and conduct daily prospecting, cold calls, and face-to-face meetings
• Serve as the liaison among employers, participants, and our criminal justice partners

Both Tracks: Job Placement Services

• You are expected to produce up to5 monthly placements
• Screen and match program participants with employment opportunities, taking into consideration each participant’s skills, work experience, interests, and goals and aspirations
• Customize participants’ resumes to fit identified opportunities
• Manage a caseload of participants, support and coach them around applying for jobs, navigating the hiring process, and finding and securing right fit employment

Account Specialist track

• Provide placement support to participants in partnership with assigned vocational staff members coordinating on job readiness and application activity
• Communicate employer requirements and opportunity details to vocational staff to support accurate participant matching

Full Cycle track

• Manage a caseload of participants, support and coach them around applying for jobs, navigating the hiring process, and finding and securing right fit employment
• Serve as the primary point of contact for assigned participants throughout the placement process

Administrative Support

• Document all participant and employer contact, activities, and outcomes in our case management system (Salesforce)
• Supports the Site Director with administrative and operational duties to ensure the smooth and seamless operation of the site
• Perform other job-related duties and responsibilities assigned from time to time

Lead activities within or across offices related to your role’s specific outcomes and/or office needs (such as case conferencing responsibilities)

Compensation and Benefits

The salary for this position is $52,600.

In an effort to be both equitable and transparent, CEO's compensation philosophy considers a variety of factors, including, but not limited to, experience, internal equity, and home office location in making a final determination on our salary offer.

• We recognize that salary is a part of the overall compensation package and also provide a comprehensive benefits package, including medical and dental coverage, as well as professional development opportunities and training, including regular training opportunities in Motivational Interviewing (MI). MI is one evidence-based skill that reentry and human service professionals can utilize when supporting participants to achieve their goals.
• We also offer paid parental leave, participation in a retirement plan, sick and vacation leave, paid holidays and more.
• We are a workplace that promotes continual learning and teamwork, offering lunch and learns, team outings, holiday gatherings and more for our staff.

More About Us

Center for Employment Opportunities believes that everyone deserves the chance to shape a stronger future for themselves, their families, and their communities. People who are justice involved are highly encouraged to apply for vacant positions at all levels. CEO is committed to the CROWN Act, and creating an open space where our employees can present as their true authentic selves.

All qualified applicants will be considered for employment without unlawful discrimination based on race, color, religion, national origin, sex, age, gender, gender identity, disability, marital status, sexual orientation, military status, prior record of arrest or conviction, citizenship status, current employment status, caregiver status, or any other category protected by federal, state, or local law. We value diverse experiences, including with regard to educational background and justice system contact.

Voluntary Self-Identification

For government reporting purposes, we ask candidates to respond to the below self-identification survey. Completion of the form is entirely voluntary. Whatever your decision, it will not be considered in the hiring process or thereafter. Any information that you do provide will be recorded and maintained in a confidential file.

As set forth in Center for Employment Opportunities’s Equal Employment Opportunity policy, we do not discriminate on the basis of any protected group status under any applicable law.

If you believe you belong to any of the categories of protected veterans listed below, please indicate by making the appropriate selection. As a government contractor subject to the Vietnam Era Veterans Readjustment Assistance Act (VEVRAA), we request this information in order to measure the effectiveness of the outreach and positive recruitment efforts we undertake pursuant to VEVRAA. Classification of protected categories is as follows:

A "disabled veteran" is one of the following: a veteran of the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service who is entitled to compensation (or who but for the receipt of military retired pay would be entitled to compensation) under laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs; or a person who was discharged or released from active duty because of a service-connected disability.

A "recently separated veteran" means any veteran during the three-year period beginning on the date of such veteran's discharge or release from active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval, or air service.

An "active duty wartime or campaign badge veteran" means a veteran who served on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service during a war, or in a campaign or expedition for which a campaign badge has been authorized under the laws administered by the Department of Defense.

An "Armed forces service medal veteran" means a veteran who, while serving on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service, participated in a United States military operation for which an Armed Forces service medal was awarded pursuant to Executive Order 12985.