Employment Specialist 2 (Bes2) - Permanent Opportunity In Portland Metro SE

Initial Posting Date:

06/26/2024

Application Deadline:

07/08/2024

Agency:

Employment Department

Salary Range:

4,138.00 - 5,747.00

Position Type:

Employee

Position Title:

Employment Specialist 2 (BES2) - Permanent Opportunity in Portland Metro SE

Job Description:

Spanish/ English bilingual candidates are encouraged to apply but Spanish/ English bilingual skills are not a requirement for this position!*

Are you passionate about serving diverse populations? Are you looking to be a part of meaningful and impactful work? Are you committed to exceeding customer expectations? If so, please consider joining our WorkSource Oregon team!

At the Oregon Employment Department, we actively support a workforce that is representative of the people we serve including people from various races, genders, abilities, cultures, language skills, geographic locations, and justice system involvement. We value your life experiences and encourage everyone to apply with your transferable skills and qualifications from your work, school, and volunteer experiences.

What You Will be Doing:

As an Employment Specialist, you will provide high-quality services in-person to individual Oregonians and employers seeking assistance from WorkSource Oregon (WSO). Services provided may include Exploratory, Career, Training and/or Business Services. In this role you will:

• Provide a customized one-on-one conversation to customers; review, assist with, or conduct basic registration; gather necessary information to determine customer needs.

• Provide referrals to community resources and supportive service agencies for needed services and/or technical assistance as appropriate.

• Interview a high volume of job seekers; determine job seeker's transferable skills, interests, and employment goals. Identify barriers to successful job search and explore possible solutions to remove the barriers.

• Assist with application processes, documentation, and effective interviewing techniques. Gain and maintain familiarity with local employment needs in order to provide relevant job search support and assistance to jobseekers.

• Conduct staff-assisted talent development workshops to teach essential skills for work readiness. Refer customers to attend talent development workshops and activities so they have the materials and skills to be successful during job interviews. Offer comprehensive business services through WSO centers that are aligned with local sector strategies and investment priorities.

To provide program coverage, travel to other WorkSource Centers and satellite offices is required when business or operational needs are dependent on on‑site activities. An Oregon Employment vehicle may be provided for use to alternate locations.

For a full Position Description, please click here.

What We Are Looking For (Desired Attributes):

REQUIRED: Resume attachment. Please understand that if there is no resume attached, your application will be graded as non-responsive or incomplete during the screening stage.

• Multi-tasking: Ability to attend to multiple tasks simultaneously and enthusiastically, deliver high quality work on time, and remain productive and calm in pressured environments.

• Customer Focus: Ability to professionally interact with a high volume of diverse customers providing service that exceeds the customers' expectations.

• Working with Information: Ability to efficiently and effectively use data, critical thinking, and analytical reasoning to gather information and apply laws, rules and polices to solve problems and make decisions.

• Commitment to valuing diversity and promoting inclusion.

• Spanish/ English bilingual candidates are encouraged to apply but Spanish/ English bilingual skills are not a requirement for this position. You must be fluent (read, speak, and write) in Spanish AND English to meet the special qualification in order to qualify for a Bilingual Pay Differential. The successful candidates for a bilingual position will demonstrate language competency in the Spanish language by:

• The ability to communicate at informal and some formal level.

• Converse with more detail about familiar topics.

• Comment on unfamiliar topics with some difficulty but still be able to express the main idea.

• Form long sentences with sufficient vocabulary but tending to maintain native language syntax.

• Demonstrate intelligible pronunciation, which does not interfere with understanding.

• Sustain a fluent conversation.

Required Minimum Qualifications:

Two years providing customer service, which included requesting and reviewing information, documentation, and deciding an action based on the information.

Examples of qualifying experience are eligibility interviewer, application examiner, unemployment insurance, examination proctor, information clerk, insurance aide, public counter intake person, employment and claims aide, employment services, job placement, recruiter, vocational guidance, or retail industry if it involved the above stated experience.

Two years of education or experience. Listed above are examples of acceptable experience. 45-quarter (30-semester) college-level credits in Human Resources, Vocational or Career Counseling, Social Services, Psychology, Education, Business or Public Administration, Communication or related field substitute for one year of experience.

What's in it for You?

• A workplace that balances productivity with enjoyment and encourages learning and mentoring.

• Rewarding work in a fast-paced, creative environment with colleagues who are passionate about public service.

• A workplace that fosters fairness, equity, and inclusion to maintain a workplace environment where everyone is treated with respect and dignity regardless of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, age, veteran status, disability, or status as a victim of domestic violence, harassment, sexual assault, or stalking. This policy applies to every aspect of our employment practices, including recruitment, hiring, retention, promotion, and training.

• Work/life balance, 11 paid holidays a year, and a competitive benefits package.

• If you have federal student loan debt or are thinking of going back to school, then you may benefit from the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program (PSLF). PSLF allows you to make 120 qualifying payments on your student loan while working full-time for a qualifying employer. PSLF student loan debt may be forgiven. OED positions may qualify for PSLF, please visit the website for more information and/or verification.

How to Apply:

• External Applicants: Click on the "Apply" link above to fill out the online application and submit by the posted closing date. Please use the name you want us to address you by.

• Current State of Oregon employees (this includes temporary employees) OED/Statewide employees: Apply through your employee Workday account. Please ensure the work history in your applicant profile is up-to-date and reflects your current position.

• REQUIRED: Attach a resume. Please upload your documents in the "Resume / Cover Letter" section of the application.

• In addition to your related work experience and education, we will use the desired attributes and required minimum qualifications to determine who to interview. Please make sure you demonstrate that you have the desired attributes and minimum qualifications in your application materials.

• Important: Please monitor both your email and Workday account for updates regarding this recruitment. You may be asked to submit additional information after initial application.

Additional Information:

• *Bilingual Pay Differential: Employees assigned to use Spanish bilingual skills in the regular performance of their duties will receive a monthly pay differential of 5% over their base salary pay.

• This position is represented by the Service Employees International Union (SEIU).

• This recruitment may be used to fill future Permanent, Limited Duration, Job Rotation and Temporary vacancies as they occur.

• Please ensure you've provided a thorough and updated application as it pertains to the position for which you are applying. This will be used to determine the salary offer based on a pay equity assessment.

• The salary listed is the non-PERS qualifying salary range. If the successful candidate is PERS qualifying, the salary range will reflect the additional 6.95%. Please review the Classification and Compensation page for more details, or you may visit our website for information on Pay Equity.

• United States Employment Eligibility: The Oregon Employment Department does not offer visa sponsorship. Within three days of hire, all applicants will be required to complete the US Department of Homeland Security's Form I-9, confirming authorization to work in the United States. The Oregon Employment Department is an E-Verify employer. If you are the successful candidate you must present your I-9 acceptable documents (See page 3) for employment verification.

Work Location Information:

This position will report to the Portland Metro SE WorkSource Oregon Center office and is not suitable for remote or hybrid remote work.

Veterans' Preference:

Eligible veterans who meet the qualifications will be given veterans' preference. For further information, please see the following website: Veterans Resources, or call Oregon Department of Veterans' Affairs at: 1‑800-692-9666. NOTE: If claiming veterans' preference, please be sure to check your Workday account for pending tasks or actions under your "My Applications" section.

Equity and Inclusion:

We foster fairness, equity, and inclusion to maintain a workplace environment where everyone is treated with respect and dignity regardless of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, age, veteran status, disability, or status as a victim of domestic violence, harassment, sexual assault, or stalking. This policy applies to every aspect of our employment practices, including recruitment, hiring, retention, promotion, and training.

• View guidance our hiring managers use at the following website: Equity and Inclusion Recruitment Questions

• Please read more about our Gender Identity and Expression Procedure!

Criminal Records Check:

The Employment Department is committed to being a leader in providing its employees with fair and equal employment opportunities and recognizes that as a best practice in equity and inclusion, criminal background check policies shall be job related and consistent with business necessity. For positions with authorized access to FBI Criminal Justice Information Systems (CJIS) information, a separate criminal records check is conducted by the Oregon State Police. If you would like further information on how each criminal records check is conducted, please read our Criminal Records Check Policy or contact us at the number below with any questions.

Contact Information and Helpful Links:

• If you have questions about the position or need an alternate format to apply, please contact us at 503‑947-1289; humanresources@employ.oregon.gov. Please be sure to include the job requisition ID number.

• Reasonable Accommodations

• Interview Scoring Criteria used during recruitment

• Understanding the State Application Process

• Resources for Job Seekers