Employers impressed by exceptional skills at Chattogram disability job fair

 Employers participating in a job fair for persons with disabilities in Chattogram last week expressed satisfaction with the quality and quantity of resumes they received from the job seekers, saying their expectations were fully met.

“We are happy at the turnout and the interest expressed for jobs at BRAC Bank,” said Alishah Mohammed Mahmudul Hassan, an Associate Branch Operation Manager in the Chattogram Region. “We have received over 100 CVs and some are very good; we will be recommending that the bank takes on some of them.”

“We can see that they have struggled a lot because of their disabilities but they have truly achieved very much academically,” he added as he reflected on the job applicants he had interacted with.

BRAC Career HUB, a sister entity focussed on equipping job seekers with employability skills in readiness for the job market said they had received and reviewed more than 50 CVs by noon and were very excited to have connected with persons with disabilities in Chattogram.

“As a development organisation, our aim is to ensure inclusion and we are happy that we have been able to connect with persons with disabilities to equip them to be able to get and keep the job opportunities that are available for them,” said Md Mizan Nur Rahman Khan, a Centre Manager of the BRAC Career HUB in Chattogram.

Rights of persons with disability

In a joint initiative by the Bangladesh Business and Disability Network (BBDN) and the ILO through the Canadian-funded ProGRESS project, the job fair was organised as part of the United Nations Partnership on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNPRPD) that brings together UN entities, governments, organisations of persons with disabilities (OPDs) and broader civil society to advance the rights of persons with disabilities around the world. The ILO is one of the UN entities participating in UNPRPD. 

More than 375 job seekers from Chittagong and surrounding districts participated, bring their CVs and engaging with prospective employers. Some 20 recruiting organizations from various sectors took part in the fair, including companies such as the Ispahani Group, Berger Paints, BRAC Bank PLC, American & Efird, Pacific Jeans, Clifton Cotton Mills, BRAC Career Hub, Access Bangladesh Foundation, and B-Scan. 

Several employers interviewed said they impressed by the quality of CVs received and were hopeful that some of the candidates would get jobs. Pacific Jeans, which had received more than 80 CVs some of which were “really good CVs”, had a target of recruiting 15 to 20 persons with disabilities. Organic Jeans and its sister company Vancot Ltd, pre-screened and accepted about 50 CV each that could meet their business needs.

Impressive skills

“We were especially impressed by candidates with masters’ degrees and honours students who could not secure jobs. For some it was because of minor physical problems like finger or leg injuries,” said Md Zakir Hossain, Deputy Manager – Compliance at Organic Jeans Ltd. “This career fair fully met out expectations as we came expecting to get at least 50 CVs.”

Some of the skills and qualifications that caught the attention of recruiting companies included mechanical, electrical and genetic engineers, lawyers, and highly experienced sewers and machine operators. Some employers reported they had previously hired persons with disability in functions such as cutting and finishing, quality checking, stores, data entry and administrative tasks, teaching and security personnel.

“We received about 85 CVs and have shortlisted 25. One of them is a very young machine operator who perfectly understands the whole process. I have alerted my top management who are likely to give him a job as soon as Saturday (1 November), as we are entering a new month,” said Shifat Sattar, an Executive HR Officer at Clifton Group during the career fair held on 31 October.

He said the company needed mechanical and electrical engineers as “we have many machines” and need lawyers to provide legal aid to workers. 

Management consulting and recruiting company, Front Desk Bangladesh Ltd said they had shortlisted 30 to 50 “very good CVs from very experienced people who can get job placements”, said Md Faysal Akbar, the HR and IR Executive, Chattogram Branch.

Noble initiative

Employers participating in such a fair for the first time were equally moved and pleasantly surprised by the untapped potential of participating persons with disabilities.

“This is a very novel that has given me a very different and special experience because we are collecting the CVs of special people; it’s a very noble initiative,” said Kamrun Nahar Bristy, a Customer Relation Manager at Plusnet Inc, an IT company. “Without them (persons with disabilities), we can’t prosper so we should find employment solutions for them”.

She said many of the job seekers had expressed in working in the company’s call centre.