Amazon held is latest job fair in New Haven on Friday.
The retail giant is still hiring for its new North Haven fulfillment center, which opened last month and will ultimately employ 1,800 people. Eighteen-year-old Payton Turner was among the dozens who turned out for the job fair at City Hall. The full-time Gateway Community College student is looking for a full-time job.
“It’ll help my pay for school, books, everything. It’ll just completely take me to the next level,” he said.
Amazon employees as well as staff with the nonprofit, Workforce Alliance, guided people through the process.
“Online applications could take weeks to hear back and this is a very quick process, and I would like to know if I have the job or not,” Turner explained.
”They could get a preliminary offer today and they could be working within the next couple of weeks,” Bill Villano, Workforce Alliance’s president & CEO, said.
Villano said about 1,000 of the positions have been filled as the company is offering a competitive $15 an hour.
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“I was working two minimum wage jobs, so when I heard that hiring was $15 an hour, starting, I knew I just had to hop on that opportunity,” Turner said.
”That’s what drew me to it as well,” said Rayshan Coleman of New Haven. “I was like ‘Wow! They’re not paying too bad,’ so that’s why I’m here.”
Coleman recently retired after 17 years in the U.S. Navy.
“It’s actually a good transition for me because Amazon picks up a lot of military veterans.”
Something he believes will allow him to navigate a new job smoothly and successfully.
“The fast pace and everything like that. I’m so used to moving around on the go and Amazon provides that.”
