Helping out Carson City's job seekers

Tina Grefrath helps Carson City residents become connected to jobs.

As the new center manager for Nevada JobConnect, she oversees the activities of about 24 staff members and coordinates the interaction between all of the agencies inside JobConnect. She wants the job-hunting experience to be seamless and JobConnect the one-stop shop for work seekers to find training and employment. Contact her at 684-0445.

What's new with Carson City's JobConnect center?

There's been a shift in how the office is going to be operated. Now it's under Nevadaworks, which is the Northern Nevada work force board. They are a group of employers and agencies that oversee work force development in Northern Nevada.

JOIN (Job Opportunities in Nevada) moved in and is now one of the parts of the office. So now we're a consortium of agencies operating under the Nevada JobConnect name.

What's your role in this change?

I was asked to come here from Reno because I've done this for more than 20 years. What I do as the center manager is to make sure all services are offered to people and make the job-hunting process as seamless as possible. This is a one-stop job center.

Why is a one-stop center important for job seekers?

The one-stop center makes it much easier for people because they are no longer running around to different places. Here they can go to one place and access multiple services from multiple agencies all at one time.

Government services are often very confusing for people to access, and people get overwhelmed. What I do, and the people who work in this center, we help a person look for a job or employers to look for employees.

What's in the center?

We can provide a wide variety of services, such as employment security, vocational rehabilitation and JOIN.

What does JOIN do?

JOIN does job training and various things such as General Equivalency Diploma preparation classes, a service to displaced homemakers. They also have workshops for job seekers.

What makes you passionate about your job?

I love what I do. I think it's so exciting now with all the changing going on in job seeking. I think what we do is probably more important than it's ever been. I'm passionate about the employer's side. It's difficult for employers to find people and be competitive.