POTTSVILLE, Pa. — When Sharon Seiwell first walked through Pennsylvania CareerLink's doors, it wasn't for a job interview for her current position at the Pottsville location.
"I was laid off from my job that I had; it was retail. I was an assistant manager of a clothing store, and I needed to be retrained because that was all I knew coming out of high school," she explained.
After working in retail, Seiwell wanted to enhance her job skills.
That's where the PA CareerLink's on-the-job training program comes in. The program provided the funding for her to go back to school, something Seiwell never thought she could afford.
"I didn't have the resources to pay for school, and I still would be working in retail," Seiwell said.
Instead, she spent more than 20 years helping other people get the resources they need for their careers. That's the mission of Pennsylvania's CareerLink.
"Some people really don't know what we do here. And they're since they're really not sure, we just want to get the word out that we're the employment office and we're a resource to connect employers with job seekers," said Sharon Angelo, site administrator for PA CareerLink in Pottsville.
Watching Seiwell get laid off twice, Angelo has a front-row seat to see Seiwell and others bloom into success stories of PA CareerLink.
"To help individuals who are down on their luck, or they just need a leg up, or they just need some help, we're helping them become productive members of society and help them get really good paying jobs," added Angelo.
And the assistance doesn't stop after their clients get a job.
PA CareerLink holds free workshops to help employees and employers better themselves in the workplace.
"Obtaining those skills is so important so we can actually put people in school and let them obtain the skills that they need so they can be financially stable," Seiwell said.
To learn more about Pennsylvania CareerLink's opportunities, the locations in Schuylkill and Luzerne Counties are hosting their largest hiring event of the year on Tuesday.
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