Job fair for formerly incarcerated coming up; hear one man’s success story

A year and a half ago Zach Hanssen, of Lincoln, wasn’t happy with his job.

“I had been incarcerated for about four years, went to work release, got out and on parole and then worked a few jobs that just didn’t fit,” Zach Hanssen, an employee at the Center for People in Need said.

Then he heard about the Center for People in Need’s Trade Program.

It’s a re–entry program for inmates that gives them the skills they need to be successful.

“It helped me get the job I really wanted, get me the money I really needed,” Hanssen said.

The job he wanted turned out to be right there at the Center for People in Need.

“I love to help people that really need it, it helps me feel better about myself,” Hanssen said.

You could be where Hanssen is, regardless of your past, looking toward a bright future.

With the Center for People in Need’s trade program job fair this Friday from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.

“The best day of my job is when they come back, running up the stairs and say I got a job, I got an apartment, I bought a car! That’s what makes this really rewarding,” Annette McRoy, a Trade Employment Developer said.

They’ll have dozens of employers who are looking to fill positions from entry level all the way to management.

“We’re not looking at fast food jobs, we’re looking at jobs that will lead to a career,” McRoy said.

The fair is open to the public with a focus on trade program participants and those who’ve been previously incarcerated.

“Just because we made a mistake in the past doesn’t mean you should judge us,” Hanssen said. “I actually feel like people who have a criminal background work harder because we have something to prove.”