Careers at Goodwill

When Whole Foods Market was looking to open a store in Jamaica Plain, they weren’t sure where to turn for help in finding qualified employees.

Enter Boston Career Link, the one-stop career center operated by Goodwill.

“We didn’t have a store in that vicinity so this was new territory for us,” said Linda Shear, the North Atlantic Team Member Services Executive Coordinator, for Whole Foods.

To help meet Whole Foods hiring needs, Boston Career Link hosted two job fairs, which were attended by more than 300 applicants. Of those, Whole Foods was able to hire 32 employees, including eight who had worked at Hi-Lo, the grocery store that had previously been at the Jamaica Plain location.

“Once we got connected to Boston Career Link, we were thrilled with the quality of candidates we interviewed,” Shear said. “They took the time to ask us what we were looking for and made sure there were candidates there who had experience in retail or food preparation.”

Shear said Boston Career Link went the extra mile when she told them there were six candidates they wanted to hire, but who did not have adequate English skills. Boston Career Link found English for Employment classes for the applicants and shortly after that they were hired by Whole Foods.