Hamilton businesses support job seekers

Hamilton based Momento Café is starting a new project to help keen job seekers find employment.

Owners Craig and Courtenay Paul are pairing up with Hamilton city Vogue Drycleaners to help prepare employees for job interviews.

“It would be great if we could give some people some confidence to get out there and get a job,” Mr Paul said.

The overnight service means the candidate can drop off their interview clothes at Vogue Drycleaners on Victoria Street.

Vogue Drycleaners will clean and iron the clothing free of charge ready for pick-up the next day.

Clients then receive a coffee voucher from Vogue Drycleaners to redeem at any Momento café in Hamilton for a coffee or other drink before their interview.

The idea came about when Mr Paul saw a Facebook post on a similar scheme carried out in the US on the Conscious Consumers social media website.

“I saw that and I thought that is brilliant, we could do that,” Mr Paul said.

Conscious Consumers is a business accreditation scheme which requires business to meet environmental and socially responsible standards set out by the organisation.

Momento Café has been a part of the Conscious Consumers group since 2011.

“As a business we pride ourselves and are really driven to be a part of that whole movement,” Mr Paul said.

The project aims to provide support in preparing clients for interview without the hassles.

The team hope to make the process as simple as possible.

Mr Paul and his team believe the process is stressful enough without having to provide proof of an interview.

“If people seem genuine enough we’re happy to do it,” he said.

The project begins on Monday March 31 with a limit of 10 people per week. It will run indefinitely until the team decide that the situation needs to be reassessed to cater for the public’s needs.

“While people are interested we will be happy to keep doing it,” Paul said.