CareerCenter partners with Norway library

OXFORD HILLS — The CareerCenter will begin providing walk-in services for job seekers at the Norway Memorial Library two days a week, starting this month.

According to CareerCenter Program Manager Jim Trundy, staff will be on hand to help people search and apply for jobs, file for unemployment and sign up for training sessions.

In September, the CareerCenter relocated from the Western Maine Community College University building to the Oxford Hills Chamber of Commerce on Western Avenue in Paris.

The move was a result of a shift in focus at the CareerCenter, from offering walk-in services to emphasizing job training.

Since the move, Trundy says, there has been a decline in the number of people coming to the CareerCenter for help.

Two orientation sessions organized at the new offices have been unattended, Trundy reports.

The CareerCenter maintained walk-in services the WMCCU computer lab two days a week after moving from the space, but the $100 per week cost was too much, says Trundy.

The CareerCenter can use the library's facilities free of cost and still provide services.

The walk-in services are primarily for those who are unable to access the Internet from home or lack the computer skills to search and apply for jobs online on their own.

Since the CareerCenter relocated, demand for walk-in services has dipped, Trundy says. In August, between 300 and 400 people used the services at the center's old location.

Now, he says, only about a dozen people a week come in for help, but the office is still committed to providing services if clients need them.

Trundy says there is a perception that the CareerCenter is closed permanently.

He's even heard from the Lewiston CareerCenter that people from Oxford Hills are arriving there claiming the office has shut down.

"I think there is still a feeling that there isn't an office in the area," Trundy says.

"I think there's a need, but part of it is people finding us."

The CareerCenter is open Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Oxford Hills Chamber of Commerce building at 4 Western Avenue in South Paris.

CareerCenter walk-in services will be held in the Norway Memorial Library on Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.