Employment Services Internship

Organizational Description:

Journey's End Refugee Services, Inc. is an equal opportunity employer and seeks to employ the best-qualified personnel without regard to race, religion, color, national origin, citizenship, age, sex, gender identity, marital status, or any other reason prohibited by law. 

Journey’s End Refugee Services, Inc. is a refugee resettlement and immigration services provider for the Western New York Region. Journey’s End works to assist newly arriving refugees to find gainful employment and avoid dependency on social services. 

Hours Required:

15-20 hours per week for 3 months. Hours available between 9-5 M-F.

Position Description:

The Matching Grant Program is a part of our Employment Services department. This is a federally funded voluntary program and an alternative to the public cash assistance/welfare program. Matching Grant aims to help refugees achieve self-sufficiency through paid employment within their first 30 to 120 days of arrival in the United States. The Matching Grant Employment Intern will aid recently arrived refugees to find their first job in the United States through a series of activities, including teaching a career development class and more hands-on activities, such as helping clients complete applications.

The intern will work under the supervision and evaluation of the Matching Grant Coordinator. Duties may include: teaching a group of adult ESL students about the career development process, as well as long and short-term career goal setting; assisting individual clients in developing actionable career goals and plans; helping clients complete job applications in accordance with their plans and drive them to job interviews; following up with clients after the job starts and providing ongoing support; administrative and clerical duties required for grant maintenance such as distributing and logging of client NFTA bus passes; tracking and recording services provided to each client in their volunteer logs; mentoring a Matching Grant client or family as an English language conversation partner for 2 hours a week; taking clients to the DMV; other assistance as needed or in line with the intern’s own goals.

This is an unpaid internship. A portion of the intern's time will be dedicated to their personal educational development including a thorough training in Journey's End and its mission.

Requirements:

  • Current undergraduate or graduate student.

  • Professionalism, dependability, honesty, and punctuality.

  • Strong oral and written communication skills.

  • Willingness to ride a city bus or drive clients.

  • Adaptability to a rapidly changing environment

  • Effective interpersonal communication skills for working with people from other cultures and with limited English.

Ideal candidates will have the following skills:

  • A car and valid driver’s license and a willingness to drive on behalf of the agency, possibly transporting clients. Interns are responsible for knowing their own university or college rules and restrictions regarding internships. Mileage and parking fees are reimbursed.

  • An interest in Buffalo's refugee population and/or career or job development careers.

  • Prior experience with Microsoft Office, Google applications.

  • Fluency in Nepali, Burmese, Karen, Arabic, Farsi, Swahili, French, or Somali would be a huge plus.

Intern will gain:

  • Experience working with the refugee population and learning the concerns their issues thereof.

  • Interaction with various government agencies, including the DMV and DSS.

  • Experience working around rapidly changing priorities.

  • Professional feedback and guidance.

Journey’s End supervisors will:

  • Communicate with intern about learning goals and outcomes.

  • Train and evaluate intern.

  • Provide proof of attendance, if needed.

Interested candidates should email a résume and cover letter to volunteer@jersbuffalo.org. No phone calls please.