IRC Background: The IRC has been resettling refugees in San Jose, California, for over 30 years, providing reception and placement services to newly arrived refugees. The San Jose IRC office serves approximately 200 refugees annually providing them a fresh start and opportunities to use their greatest resources—their motivation, their skills and their experiences—to become independent and self-sufficient new Americans. The office provides numerous supplemental programs to assist refugees and IRC clients from their arrival and beyond.
Job Overview: The IRC in San Jose’s Economic Empowerment department provides early employment, economic empowerment education, financial education/coaching and job readiness services to ensure clients achieve self-sufficiency and economic independence. The IRC in San Jose’s Economic Empowerment program works to ensure that refugee adult clients have the skills and knowledge to become successfully employed, understand US financial systems, and in are economically independent. The Economic Empowerment department provides programming focused on Vocational English as Second Language (VESL), employment search skills, and job readiness and on the job training education, industry specific trainings in hospitality/ customer service and financial education. VESL Instructor will plan and instruct Vocational English as a Second Language classes to adult refugees preparing for employment in the United States. This position reports to the Economic Empowerment Coordinator.
Major Responsibilities:
•Plan and teach full time VESL classes to refugee adults with a focus on vocational English acquisition;
•Develop VESL lesson plans that enable clients to gain real- life skills and fully participate in their new communities;
•In coordination with Volunteer Coordinator and Employment Coordinator, assist IRC Employment team in managing volunteer and intern force;
•Collaborate with Economic Empowerment Coordinator to enroll, track, and update clients’ participation in the VESL program in accordance with contractual obligations;
•Maintain case file documents for client’s participation and outcomes;
•Implement basic computer skills training using the IRC computer lab focusing on VESL instruction and Microsoft Office;
•Tailor lesson plans to meet the needs of varying language levels and cultural backgrounds of the refugee students;
•Administer initial client intake English exam, and regular assessments to ensure client’s English progress;
•Maintain case file documentation for individual clients’ activities and outcomes for reporting purposes;
•Monitor classroom participation, and maintain attendance records;
•Implement evaluation to determine success and usefulness of training and programming;
•Aid Economic Empowerment Coordinator in reporting errors or changes in client information in a timely fashion, communicating with Social Services as needed;
•Encourage employment as the pathway to self-sufficiency for newly arrived refugees
•Participate in IRC Communities of Practice, staff meetings, and other networking/learning opportunities in the network;
•Other duties as assigned
Key Working Relationships:
Position Reports to: Employment Coordinator
Position directly supervises: N/A
Indirect Reporting: N/A
Other Internal and/or external contacts:
Internal: Employment Specialist, Career Development Coordinator, IDA Program Specialist, and AmeriCorps Member
External: Santa Clara County, Community Colleges, Employers, and other Community Partners
