Employment
CRIS Career Services program prepares refugees for the workplace in order to achieve the goal of long-term self-sufficiency and integration into the Central Ohio community. Refugees can access both classroom instruction and individual employment counseling through this service.
Find out more about CRIS employment services by contacting us.
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Ismail & Zahra
Originally from Syria, Ismail and his wife Zahra (pseudonyms) and their three children were resettled in Columbus in June of this year. As with each family CRIS resettles, Ismail and Zahra received a laptop in their first days here. Ismail shares, “Living as a refugee in Jordan for almost 11 years, I did not have access to a personal laptop. This laptop has given me access to important emails and helped me apply for jobs.”
After diligently searching, applying, and interviewing for jobs with the support of CRIS' Resettlement and Match Grant staff, he recently secured employment at The Ohio State University.
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Marcelline
After a lifetime of work in an agrarian society and over twenty years in a refugee camp, Marcelline moved to Columbus in 2022. CRIS Employment Counselor CalebMurenzi helped Marcelline, at 58 years young, secure her first official job. She now works at Sugar Creek Packing Co., a long-time CRIS employer partner. In her first days of this new role, she explains that the job has its challenges for her but she is very happy to be working. To describe how she feels about receiving her first-ever paycheck, the mother of six explains, “It’s like waiting for a child to be born!”
Eligibility
CRIS Career Services are currently available to work-authorized refugees, asylees, and immigrants who have been in the country for less than five years.
Program Details
CRIS Career Services offers a wide range of options to empower refugees and immigrants to gain employment, including skills-based instruction, English as a Second Language (ESL) classes, interview practice, and more.
Classroom Instruction: Daily instruction covering topics related to American culture and the workplace. Depending on an individual’s needs, participants spend anywhere from a few weeks to a few months with us, immersed in the English language and learning the skills that will enable them to meet employer needs.
Specific English language instruction takes place during additional daily ESL classes. Among the many topics covered in the employment classes are:
American culture—dress, communication, time, employer expectations, etc.
Child care
Math, money and financial management
Local navigation and modes of travel
Career exploration and goal setting
The job process—applications, interviews, beginning work, successful work retention
Individual Employment Counseling: CRIS employment counselors work with clients to achieve their individual employment goals through practical application of the classroom teaching. Our employment counselors regularly assist with job applications, scheduling interviews, arranging transportation to a new job, arranging childcare, and providing support to our clients and their employers through the early stages of employment.
Funding Partners
Have questions?
Contact us today.
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Narad Nepal
ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR OF CAREER SERVICES
Narad oversees all CRIS Career Services, managing a strong team of multilingual employment counselors who assist clients.