Charina Sappier
“Working Warriors was a great asset to have at the job fair for our commercial development,” said Charina Sappier, Economic Training Officer (ETO) for Elsipogtog First Nation. Elsipogtog faces employment challenges in their community and the establishment of a new business and the use of Working Warriors helped to solve that problem for them.
Working Warriors is a tool where Indigenous peoples can upload or create resumes and apply for jobs in New Brunswick and across Canada. Working Warriors also allows industry to connect to the Indigenous labour market. Elsipogtog recently opened a new business called the River of Fire Market and Pharmacy and needed to fill 50 vacancies. Charina used the Working Warriors database to get to know her community’s labour market and to fill those positions.
Equipped with job descriptions, applications and the help of Working Warriors, she not only received resumes but also assisted potential employees build their resumes using the tool. “Working Warriors gave confidence to our community members with resume writing and job searching,” said Charina. “Thanks to Working Warriors, we were able to create resumes for our community members and fill all of the available positions at our Market and Pharmacy.”
In using Working Warriors, Elsipogtog was able to help its members by providing not only a service to promote economic development but an opportunity for their members to gain meaningful employment in their home community.
Riley Patles, Business Liaison for the Aboriginal Labour Market Information project, will be a monthly contributor to the JEDI blog. From Metepenagiag First Nation, Riley graduated from St. Thomas University with her Bachelor of Arts degree in 2016 then went on to complete her Bachelor of Education degree in 2017. Riley will be a link between industry and community in order to help serve the Indigenous workforce.