Second-Chance Hiring Goes Beyond Algorithms to Remove Work Barriers

Better Together invites McKinley Park residents to its April 30 job fair in Chicago

Megan RoseBy Megan Rose
CEO, Better Together

As parents, we help our children develop resilience through life’s storms. We remind them that their past does not define them — and that what matters most is how they learn, grow and rise from hard moments.

Progress over perfection. We believe this as parents, but we forget it as employers.

Countless Are Excluded

Outdated hiring practices and cold and impersonal online application algorithms are excluding countless smart, motivated people who may not be the “perfect” candidates on paper, but are eager to show up, work hard and grow into the role.

I can tell you that overlooking these strong, resilient candidates is a mistake.

Chicago Job Fair on April 30

For the past five years, we at Better Together have partnered with churches across the country to host hiring events through our Nationwide Day of Second Chances. These aren’t your typical job fairs — they are celebrations of new beginnings for people with incredible potential.

For McKinley Park and other Chicago-area residents, Better Together is partnering with Harris Temple Apostolic Overcoming Holy Church of God to host a job fair on Wednesday, April 30, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at 4138 S. Cottage Grove Ave., Chicago.

Local Employers

Participating hiring employers include Kates Training Academy, Majestic Transportation Corporation, Sertoma Star Services, Staffing Inc., Total Talent Resources, U.S. Army and Whole Foods.

Additional resources will be provided by organizations including 160 Driving Academy, Community Assistance Programs, PFS Investments, Safer Foundation and YMCA of Metropolitan Chicago.

Thousands Employed

Our hiring events offer hope, connection and the support people need to step confidently into their next chapter. Job seekers can come as they are, no suits required. We offer free haircuts, clothes, resume reviews and interview coaching, all from trained volunteers who are here to help.

The results? Last year, a dozen churches brought nearly 100 employers together with almost 2,000 job seekers in two states and the District of Columbia. Hundreds received free resume and interview coaching, connected with hiring managers, and were hired on the spot.

A Chance for a Mom

More broadly, our job fair program has helped more than 40,000 applicants connect with job opportunities across 24 states. On average, 60 percent find work within six weeks. These aren’t just stats — these are lives changed.

That includes Lawrencia, a young mother who attended our Miami job fair last spring, where she secured a job in the hospitality industry. She’d been out of work since giving birth to her daughter shortly after graduating high school in 2019 but never gave up — she just needed a foot in the door to show the world what she could offer.

Filling Labor Shortages

In Jacksonville, Navy veteran Gena attended one of our second chance job fairs hoping to find stable, long-term employment after overcoming some mental health challenges. “I don’t want to come to work just to get a paycheck. I want to come to work and find that second chance out there,” she told a local TV station. She did the inner work and was ready to begin again.

With labor shortages in industries like construction, hospitality, retail and industry trades, top companies and state business organizations are finally catching on that second chance hiring is a win-win for employers and society at large.

Dedicated Workers for Companies

For example, in Florida, it costs taxpayers nearly $30,000 a year to house an inmate in state prison, and nearly 75 percent of those who served their time are still unemployed a year later. People lose hope when they can’t find a job and two-thirds of them will return to jail.

Companies like JPMorgan Chase, AT&T, Microsoft and Walmart are taking action to help these citizens get back to work. Nearly one in 10 new hires at JPMorgan Chase has a previous record with no bearing on their role, which seems pretty reasonable given national averages.

For comparison, one in three Americans has an arrest record, which means if we left it up to the algorithms to decide, a third of America would never find work again.

Multiple Job Fairs

Companies of all sizes have an opportunity to rise to the occasion and remove barriers to work through human connection, joining a collective solution that fills business needs while bringing gainful employment to residents who need a hand up, not a handout.

This April, our Nationwide Day of Second Chances hiring events also take place in Fort Myers; Jacksonville; Largo; Miami; Ocala; Port St. Lucie; Washington, D.C.; and Ironton, Ohio.

Nationwide Day of Second Chances

These job fairs offer hope and a solution to help our neighbors find work, restore their dignity and keep society healthy and working. Let’s practice what we preach to our children and look beyond the past and toward future potential instead.

We hope to see you on April 30 here in Chicago. To learn more about how to support or participate in Nationwide Day of Second Chances near you, visit BetterTogetherUS.org/NWDSC.

About the Author

Megan Rose is the CEO of Better Together, a non-profit organization that helps parents in crisis address the root causes of their struggle, find work, and keep their children out of foster care.