Statewide recruitment program helping Niles students get jobs

They’re calling it a pre-LinkedIn, where high school and some community college students can explore career paths that can be as close as 30 miles away from their home.

It’s called Emerge Skilled, a new statewide program open to any high school and community college students looking for internships, apprenticeships, full-time and part-time jobs with job shadowing.

The idea came about when Michigan officials began looking for ways to help local businesses with workforce development problems.

Ryan Boeskool, with the Greater Niles Chamber of Commerce, said that with great talent coming out of local high schools like Brandywine and Niles, this platform can help combat the issue.

“So many students would go to a career fair, for instance, to learn more about some of the opportunities nearby. But this will allow the student and employer to continue to converse in the post-career fair and continue to talk about what their interest might be in and if it’s a good match for that particular company,” Boeskool said.

The first phase of the project will launch later this year on September 14th with CTE students being the primary focus.

Boeskool said phases two and three of the project will be launched during the 2024 school year, when it will be open to more professions.

“We’re going to learn a lot from the process and how to improve it and how to help students have more effective profiles, and even help the employers maximize their offerings on the platform as well,” Boeskool said.

Click here to learn more about Emerge Skilled.