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BENTON HARBOR — With more than 1,600 available jobs in southwest Michigan, Michigan Works! Berrien, Cass Van Buren is urging the public to get back to work by attending the first of many virtual hiring events.

Michigan Works! Berrien, Cass, Van Buren is helping to fill the gap with 15- minute phone interviews. During the interviews, employers will discuss job opportunities, qualifications, and experience with job seekers to determine if they’re a good fit and interest for their company. The next round of phone interviews will be from noon to 3 p.m. Friday, Feb. 26, 2021, with Four Winds Casino, one of the region’s largest employers.

Four Winds Casino is hiring individuals for full and part-time positions for their Dowagiac, Hartford, New Buffalo and South Bend locations. Open positions range from servers and bartenders to security guards, environmental services engineers, surveillance operators, and guest services representatives.

“While the hospitality industry has been down 37 percent, this is an opportunity for individuals looking to get back into that industry with a great employer and get back to work,” said Lily Brewer, executive director of Michigan Works! Berrien, Cass, Van Buren.

Brewer explained that going back to the roots of hiring through phone interviews eliminates the technology barrier for job seekers.

“We went back to what we know works. Throughout the pandemic, we have had to pivot away from our norm of hosting in person hiring events with many employers at once and have had a much more focused approach that allows the employer to get one on one time with each job seeker. We will continue to host phone interviews with various employers in the future and we are confident this will fill the southwest Michigan hiring gap,” she said.

Job seekers who would like to attend are required to register their timeslot at miworks.org/virtual-job-fairs. Job seekers will be expected to provide their phone number, select a time for the interview and the employer will then call the job seeker and conduct the 15-minute interview.

Employers looking to host a phone interview at no cost should contact Berrien County Business Account Manager Paul Brohman at BrohmanP@miworks.org or Cass and Van Buren County Business Account Manager, Mark O’Reilly at OreillyM@miworks.org. For more information or general questions, visit miworks.org.