Job search on wheels: Fulton mobile career unit open for business

Job seekers started lining up before the WorkSource Fulton Mobile Career Unit opened its door Tuesday morning. The brightly painted bus sat in the shopping center lot at 6175 Old National Highway, on the southwest side of Atlanta in front of the Goodwill of North Georgia Career Center.

“How you doing? Hey, I need a job bad. I got a child,” the first arrival said to Brett Lacy, deputy director of Select Fulton. Lacy pointed him to the Goodwill Career Center to get started. Inside the building was a job fair for seven companies. It was advertised on social media and by email to Goodwill’s current clients, according to Ralfiel Worthem, director of career navigation for Goodwill of North Georgia.

WorkSource Fulton doesn’t offer jobs directly, but partners with groups like Goodwill and major employers to help job seekers with everything they need to find employment: training programs, career counseling, resumes, interview tips, even money for food, child care and transportation.

Credit: Ziyu Julian Zhu/AJC

WorkSource has permanent offices in College Park and Sandy Springs, but the mobile unit is used to “get where the public is,” Lacy said. Not everyone can get to one of the offices, but people should get the same experience and help from the mobile unit, he said.

The bus has been making rounds in Fulton County for about five years — with a pause during the pandemic, Lacy said. But even then it restarted before permanent offices reopened, because people were more willing to stand in the open air than come into a building, he said.

It makes regular stops at the Goodwill center, the College Park MARTA station, and at public libraries at least once a week, Lacy said.

On Tuesday morning, Andre Neal hadn’t visited the WorkSource bus yet, but planned to go after a class at Goodwill. Neal moved to Douglasville four months ago and is looking for any good job opportunity. He’s driven a forklift before but needs training to be certified in Georgia, he said.

Goodwill has been “absolutely amazing” in helping with his job search, but prospective employers often take their time in responding to applicants, Neal said. That’s frustrating for people who need solid leads now, he said.

The Goodwill Career Center on Old National is one of 13 around north Georgia, Worthem said. The WorkSource bus is always outside on Tuesdays, he said.

WorkSource helps people get into and complete training programs, offering funding for training in forklift certification, welding and supply chain management, Worthem said. Supply chain management training, which leads to a CDL license, is the most popular, he said.

Inside the WorkSource bus five young job seekers worked on resumes and funding applications, walked through the process by Scott Jackson, business services consultant for WorkSource Fulton.

Tyra Jones of South Fulton said she applied for WorkSource help in securing an internship with a nonprofit agency that offers skills education to low-income families.

“It’s a faster, easier, quicker way to obtain employment,” Jones said of WorkSource’s assistance. Applicants can’t always easily navigate the hiring process, such as filling out tax forms, she said. WorkSource walks people through that.

WorkSource is a federally funded program, with money distributed through the state technical college system to local workforce boards, Lacy said.

“We are one of 17 workforce boards in this state,” he said. “Every corner of the state has this program.”

Credit: Ziyu Julian Zhu/AJC

The 10-county Atlanta region has five workforce boards, coordinated through ATLWorks. Cobb and DeKalb counties and Atlanta have their own mobile units; and the regional commission has one to serve the other seven counties, Lacy said.

The Fulton unit operates outside Atlanta city limits but they collaborate often, sometimes parking next to each other.

“We’ve had big, major employers where we’ve brought all five buses out to the parking lot,” Lacy said.

The goal is to get people trained for “high demand jobs” — not just any job, but employment that pays a living wage, he said.

The career center offices see up to 250 job seekers a month, Lacy said. Up to 200 more come to the mobile unit each month in College Park, East Point, Fairburn, Roswell and other locations, Lacy said.

Last year, 376 Fulton County residents enrolled in training through WorkSource, and three-quarters of those had jobs within six months of completing training, he said.

Typical pay for those jobs is about $37,000 a year. According to a 2023 WorkSource Fulton performance report, those employees make nearly $6 for every $1 spent on the program.

Career centers and employment assistance across the metro area can be found at www.ATLworks.org .

Credit: Ziyu Julian Zhu/AJC

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