Reflections from Greenheart’s International Job Fair in the Dominican Republic

With Greenheart’s International Job Fairs, Host Organizations travel with Greenheart in order to conduct in-person interviews with candidates and hire the seasonal staff they need in just four days. Greenheart works with our partners to ensure candidates are pre-screened for their English language proficiency and prepared for the job for which they are interviewing. Our international candidates enjoy meeting representatives of their potential Host Organizations and discussing their previous experiences. Host Organizations like meeting participants face-to-face to select the staff that is best for their business and getting a chance to experience the culture of countries from where they hire seasonal staff. In this blog, Greenheart’s Carlos Robles, in Partner Relations, tells us what it was like during the recent Job Fair that took place in early December 2023:

“On December 1, five Greenheart staff and 15 representatives from 11 Host Organizations met in Santo Domingo for the OFIT-Greenheart Job Fair. The goal was to interview and select around 500 Dominican Republic university students, participants of the Work and Travel program sponsored by Greenheart and assign them Summer Jobs.

“We all gathered at the hotel lobby for our first dinner at a typical restaurant from the Dominican Republic with lots of local dishes to try and move to the sound of Merengue and Salsa, demonstrated by dancers, who invited us all to try a bit of these steps.“

December 2 was our Cultural and Volunteer Day. Greenheart’s mission is to volunteer and help the local community and we all visited a retirement home to care of the Franciscan sisters. It was quite an experience for all! After the blessing from the sister-more, we all engaged in an origami workshop to give each elderly resident a beautiful palm tree!

We then left for the beach to experience a cultural aspect of the Dominican Republic weekend, try some delicious foods, and relax under the umbrellas escaping from the strong sunny and hot afternoon.

Our second dinner was at a restaurant in the colonial center of the capital. We wandered through the narrow streets and check the souvenir shops with beautiful local handcrafts. After a delicious meal and in the company of the directors of our partner OFIT, we returned to the hotel for our early morning start.

The Job Fair.

The Job Fair was extremely well organized. Two famous TV hosts introduced the Host Organizations and Greenheart staff. Andrea Perry from Greenheart emphasized the importance of some aspects of the program before and after arrival. There were around 500 people in the auditorium, and they seemed excited and attentive judging from their reaction to the presentation.

Approximately 30 OFIT young, energetic staff helped organize the interviews, and were available to guests during their interviews with drinks and food as the interviews took place.

The interviews went on while the participants waiting to be called stayed at the auditorium until their names were called. Everything on time, organized and successful.

I conducted interviews with host organization representatives on the outcomes of the Job Fair and they all agreed it was beyond their expectations. Thanks to the experience and organization of our DR partner, OFIT, the successful participants will be receiving their Job Offers and finalizing their paperwork to travel on the Summer Work and Travel Program in summer 2024, and enjoy the cultural and international aspect of the program!

Time to say goodbye to all! Our last dinner! On the return to the hotel the group had made friendship bonding, hoping to meet again at Greenheart’s 2024 Job Fair!“

Thank you Carlos for sharing your experience at the Job Fair in the DR! We are thankful to our staff, OFIT and host organizations for making it a successful and unforgettable experience for our participants.

If you are a business who would like to host international seasonal staff for a cultural exchange, please visit HirewithGreenheart.org to learn more.

To learn more about Greenheart’s Work and Travel program visit GreenheartExchange.org.