How job help works in AtlantaA short guide: who to call first and what to expect.
If you lost your job, file for unemployment the same week at dol.georgia.gov or call 877-709-8185. You are not paid for the weeks before you file.
For help looking for work,Goodwill of North Georgia career centers are free and you can walk in. Staff help with your resume, online applications and practice interviews, and they know who is hiring. See job search help.
For free training, ask a WorkSource office. If you are out of work or earn little, federal money can pay for training in jobs that are hiring, such as truck driving, nursing assistant, welding and computer support. WorkSource Atlanta, 404-546-3000, serves people who live in the city, and each county has its own office. Per Scholas Atlanta and Westside Works also train people at no cost. At Georgia's technical colleges, the HOPE Career Grant pays tuition for many short programs. See job training.
Before you apply, get a state ID and your Social Security card, or start on them now. Almost every employer asks for them when you are hired.
If a boss does not pay you what you earned, report it to the U.S. Department of Labor at 866-487-9243. It is free, and your immigration status does not matter.
WorkSource Atlanta is the City of Atlanta's free job center. It is now part of the city's Department of Labor and Employment Services, and it was once called the Atlanta Workforce Development Agency. It helps Atlanta residents find work with career coaching, job training, and work-readiness classes. It also helps people who lost their jobs and young people looking for work.
Integrity Transformations Community Development Corporation (Integrity CDC) is a nonprofit in the Capitol View neighborhood of southwest Atlanta that has helped job seekers since 1995. It offers job readiness classes, a beginner computer skills class, and help finding jobs or job training, and it welcomes people with criminal records. It also has a computer lab people can walk in and use.
The Georgia Department of Labor is the state agency for jobs and unemployment. People use its website, its phone line, and local Career Centers to look for work, file for unemployment benefits, get information about child labor and youth work permits, and report unemployment fraud. Employers also use it for hiring, taxes, and claims.
This is the Goodwill of North Georgia career center on Metropolitan Parkway, next to a Goodwill store. Anyone looking for work can use free computers, get help with a resume and cover letter, find job listings and work with a career coach. The center also points people to skills training such as phlebotomy, supply chain, welding and commercial driver's license classes, which need funding that Goodwill helps you look for.
WorkSource Atlanta is the City of Atlanta's job training and career agency. City of Atlanta residents who are out of work or were laid off may qualify for federal WIOA money to pay for job training in high-demand careers, plus free GED prep classes for adults 18 and older.
Our House helps families with young children who are homeless or close to losing their home. At its Atlanta campus on Boulevard (the former Genesis shelter), it runs a family shelter, free childcare and preschool for children 6 weeks to 5 years old, a free health clinic, and job training. Every family also gets a Family Advocate who helps them work toward steady income and a home of their own.
The Urban League of Greater Atlanta is a civil rights and economic empowerment group that has served metro Atlanta since 1920. It helps low- and moderate-income families with housing counseling, homebuyer classes, job training, financial coaching, small business coaching and emergency financial help. Services are by appointment.
Our House is a nonprofit, started in 1988, that helps families who are homeless or at risk of homelessness. It runs free early childhood education for children age 6 weeks to 5 years, a shelter for families with a young child, a free health clinic, and job training for adults. Services are at campuses in Atlanta, Decatur and downtown Atlanta.
City of Refuge is a faith-based campus on Atlanta's Westside that helps people and families move out of crisis. It offers housing for women, children, and men, free job training, youth programs, a school, a campus kitchen, and an on-site health clinic. For housing, call and leave a message, because walk-ins are not taken.
Per Scholas Atlanta gives no-cost technology job training in Peachtree Center downtown, close to MARTA. Classes run 5 to 16 weeks and prepare people for entry-level tech jobs, with industry certifications, career coaching and connections to employers. Training is free for people who qualify by income and other requirements.
First Step Staffing is a nonprofit staffing agency that has helped people facing barriers to work since 2007, including people who are homeless, veterans, and people coming home from incarceration. It places job seekers in light-industrial jobs, helps with rides to work, and offers coaching. Most people start work within 24 to 48 hours of applying.
This is the state office that guides Career, Technical, and Agricultural Education (CTAE) in Georgia public middle and high schools. It supports more than 130 career pathways in 17 career clusters, student clubs like FFA, FBLA and SkillsUSA, and ways for students to earn work credentials. Students and families sign up through their own school or district, not through this state office.
Our House is an Atlanta nonprofit, started in 1988, that helps families who are homeless or at risk of homelessness. It runs a family shelter, childcare and early learning for children from 6 weeks to 5 years old at three campuses, job training, and Our House Health, a free clinic for children and adults who are uninsured, homeless or on Georgia Medicaid. Every program includes case management to help families reach stable housing and work.
STRIVE Atlanta is the Atlanta site of a national job training nonprofit. It offers free job training, one-on-one career coaching, job placement and support that lasts after you get a job. People with past justice system involvement are welcome.
Connecting Communities and Families is an Atlanta nonprofit near the Ashby MARTA station. It helps young adults leaving foster care, people coming home from prison or jail, and low to moderate income families get ready for work. Services include job readiness coaching, computer skills classes, job placement help, referrals to trade training, and support like transportation help and case management.
Atlanta Center for Self Sufficiency (ACSS) is a nonprofit job-help center on Atlanta's Westside. It helps people with low income, people who are homeless or at risk, veterans, older workers, young adults, and people coming home from prison get ready for work and find jobs. Services are career coaching, job readiness classes, training, job placement, and financial coaching, and it also runs a free clothing closet.
Georgia Vocational Rehabilitation Agency is a state agency that helps Georgians with disabilities get ready for work, find jobs, and live on their own. A counselor works with you to make a job plan, and help can include training, job coaching, and equipment. The agency also handles Social Security disability decisions and has services for people who are blind, Deaf, or hard of hearing.
The Georgia Department of Labor helps people with work and unemployment. Most help is online or through its local Career Centers. You can look for jobs, apply for unemployment benefits, get a youth work permit, or ask about child labor rules.
The AARP Foundation's Atlanta office runs the Senior Community Service Employment Program (SCSEP). The program helps unemployed adults age 55 and older with low incomes get paid job training. Participants work about 20 hours a week at local nonprofits or public agencies to build skills and work toward a regular job.
Community Friendship is an Atlanta nonprofit that helps adults who live with serious mental health conditions build skills for living, learning and working. It offers supportive housing, homeless outreach, peer support and help finding and keeping a job. Referrals come through its contact page or a referral form.
