Building Community at the Job Café

“‘I never would have guessed you were from Ward 8. You’re so articulate!’”

Christina* repeats these words, once said to her by a hiring manager during a job interview. She and six fellow job seekers are discussing workplace discrimination, one of the topics at this week’s Job Café.

It’s the second session of the Job Café, a new weekly gathering at A Wider Circle’s Ward 8 Hub. Facilitated by the Career Support team, the group provides a supportive space where job seekers can come together to share resources, strategies, job leads, and encouragement.

Ateh and Adam, Career Support staff at A Wider Circle, facilitate the session.

Ateh, one of the staff facilitators, suggests asking “How does this relate to the work?” when questions or comments in an interview seem discriminatory. She notes that this doesn’t need to be said verbatim: “Find the language that feels right for you.”

Her fellow facilitator, Adam, reminds participants that the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the DC Office of Human Rights are both resources for anyone who is concerned about discrimination at work. He also distributes a few handouts, one has the heading Your Job, Your Rights, Your Responsibilities.

Earlier in the session, each participant took a moment to introduce themselves, sharing the type of work they were looking for, and the challenges they faced in their job search that week. One job seeker discussed difficulties getting out of the house during the previous week’s snowstorm — “bus service was completely shut down in Southeast DC.”

Later on, a participant shares that he’s looking for work in construction. The woman next to him (another participant) recommends a staffing agency she’s previously worked with. She tells him if he wears work attire to the interview, the agency may be able to send him to a work site that same day; “Show up looking like a construction worker.”

As the session comes to a close, the facilitators share that next week’s Café will include time to work on each participant’s “30-second elevator pitch,” as well as discussion about the importance of self-advocacy on the job. Once the formal session is over, facilitators and participants alike linger and chat over coffee. Only in its second week, the Job Café seems to have already accomplished one goal: ensuring the participants don’t have to face their job search alone.

*Name changed to protect privacy.

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The Job Café takes place every Wednesday from 10:30-11:30 AM at A Wider Circle’s Ward 8 Hub and is open to job seekers throughout the region. Our team has worked with individuals with a wide variety of employment backgrounds (construction, education, retail, security, etc.), and job seekers who are unemployed, employed, or looking for a career transition are welcome.