Employment Opportunities All Around

At KOM, we have been fortunate to host Minnesota Opportunity Corps members for the past 7 years. Our two MOC Employment Navigators in 2016 placed 133 clients in jobs just that year! They are passionate in giving community members the opportunities to access stable jobs to support themselves and their families. We are proud to announce that we will be looking to hire 2 new Opportunity Navigators to start in the Fall!

(Pictured above: Wah Wah Paw (left), who served as an MOC Employment Navigator in 2016-2017 poses at Karen New Year with Par Yei Say (right), our current MOC Employment Navigator.)

“Since I started to work at KOM, I learned so much day by day. I always recommend for other people to jump into the MOC position, especially those who are young,” said Par Yei Say, KOM’s current MOC Employment Navigator.

Moo Moo Paw Htoo (in pink), a KOM MOC Employment Navigator from 2016-2017, poses with a group of clients she took to Japs-Olson Company for a tour.

Our Employment Navigators help people in the community write resumes, search and apply for jobs, interpret for job trainings and orientations, and follow-up with clients to see how their new jobs are going and offer them continued support. They also reach out to new employers, and build relationships with current employers to create more job opportunities for refugees from Burma in Minnesota.

Other than helping the community gain employment training and access to jobs, the position gives the MOCs themselves opportunities to build on their own skills and career goals. “Once they start working at KOM [as an MOC Employment Navigator], they will learn so much about living. When I say that I mean they will learn how to apply for health insurance, how to work in a social service job, how to fill out paper work from the county and from schools, how to make professional phone calls, and how to work well with others. For me it also helped my English get better and better,” explained Par Yei Say.

“After you finish as an MOC you will get so much experience. Before I didn’t know how to make a phone call or fill out paper work from the county. Nothing at all. Now I learned so much and it helped me a lot,” Par Yei Say added, “Also, I get to work with many companies and they always see me as a hard worker. I always recommend people to it. Because once you’re done with MOC you can find a really good job or use your scholarships to go to school.”

Morrison Johnny, KOM’s Program Manager for Employment and Social Services, helps supervise the Minnesota Opportunity Corps members at KOM. He spoke highly of them saying, “The MOC members help KOM’s employment program get stronger and stronger. They serve many clients and they also gain a full experience of being in a leadership role.”

Special thank you to all our MOC Employment Navigators, past and present, for all of their contributions to KOM and the Karen community:

Jeanna Bauer, Lisa Gibson, Ta Tha Hso, Sara Johnson, Laymu Paw, Aye Aye Aung, MooMoo Paw Htoo, Wah Wah Paw, and Par Yei Say.

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