Are you looking for a job or do you know someone who is? The Peninsula Job Center wants to help.

That’s what Sara Bieber told attendees at a joint Kenai and Soldotna chamber luncheon at the Kenai Chamber of Commerce and Visitor Center on Wednesday. Bieber supervises the Peninsula Job Center for the Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development and worked Wednesday to better inform folks about what services the center offers.

“We have a lot of great programs, and we don’t like to keep it a secret,” Bieber said.

People can go to the job center to create resumes and fill out job applications and to take professional proficiency tests needed for some jobs. That also benefits employers, Bieber said, who need a place to send applicants when trying to gauge skills. Visitors can participate in mock interviews or learn about how to reintegrate into the workforce or being incarcerated.

The Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development moved to a new system in July 2020 called AlaskaJobs, which acts as an all-in-one hub for job hunters looking for resources. The system can be accessed at alaskajobs.alaska.gov. For employers, the center offers labor market reports and resources to help recruitment.

At the Peninsula Job Center in Kenai, Bieber said their focus is on job seekers as well as employers. For people trying to find work, Bieber said the center makes certain technologies available, such as computers and copiers. That’s on top of services offered for incumbent workers and apprenticeships. She said the value of the services offered by the center were revealed when it closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020.

“It affected our most vulnerable in our community, those that don’t have the advantage of having internet at home and those that don’t have a computer,” Bieber said. “ … It was a really big deal.”

The center is helping put on a job and career fair next month. That fair will be held on Thursday, April 7 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Soldotna Regional Sports Complex. People interested in registering as vendors can do so through the job center.

Bieber emphasized that now is the time for people to take advantage of open positions and to explore what type of career they may like to pursue.

“It is a job-seeker market,” Bieber said. “Now is the time to take advantage of that.”

The Peninsula Job Center is located at 11312 Kenai Spur Highway #2 in Kenai and can be reached at 907-335-3010.

Reach reporter Ashlyn O’Hara at ashlyn.ohara@peninsulaclarion.com.