CHICAGO: A series of workshops designed to boost the number of Asian Americans in the state workforce began this week in the Springfield area and Chicago’s West Rogers Park.
Hosted by the Governor’s Asian American Employment Plan Advisory Council in close collaboration with half a dozen Asian organizations like Indo-American Center, Muslim Women Resource Center, the Chicago workshop was held at North town branch Public Library on Wednesday, June 26 at California Avenue. It was well attended by 100 plus members from Asian community who felt enlightened about the process and opportunities for State employment
The free workshops featured speakers from various state agencies describing what jobs are available, what qualifications are required and how to navigate the State’s online employment application system.
The Director of Asian Affairs for the Governor’s office Theresa Mah said that participants found it helpful to have the hiring process explained, especially basic information like the need for every applicant to fill out specific form either online or in hard copy format and that some positions require taking an exam and others are based on experience and training.
The representatives from DHS, DCFS, and DHR talked about specific jobs that are available at their agencies and encouraged applicants to be persistent. They highlighted the importance for potential candidates to hear that they should apply for every job that they qualify for, and that the process takes a long time, so that if there is a posting that one sees today and one has not taken a test and been graded, they will not be considered for that job.
Another issue discussed was the applicability of degrees or training from foreign institutions and how to translate these courses into the mandatory questions about “credit hours.” Agency representatives explained that most foreign degrees have to be certified by a third-party company, but there are some countries from where the degrees are accepted without certification. A CMS career counselor would be able to help with that process.
There are more than a half-million Asian Americans in Illinois. In a message Governor Quinn said that “Asian Americans comprise five percent of Illinois’ population yet represent only 2.5 percent of the Illinois government workforce. Our goal is to double the number of Asian Americans in state government to better reflect our diversity and more effectively deliver services to residents who need them.”
To address the longstanding, under-representation of Asian Americans in the workforce, Governor Quinn pushed for legislation in 2012 to create the Asian American Employment Plan Advisory Council. The Governor charged the newly-appointed members with the tasks of doubling the number of Asian Americans.
Ramesh Soparawala
India Post News Service
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