Local Jobs for Michigan’s Graduates Student Wins Award at Statewide Conference

A student in the Jobs for Michigan’s Graduates (JMG) program in Northwest Lower Michigan brought home a first-place prize from the statewide JMG Career Development Conference in Lansing. Paul Tietjen won the Interview Skills competition. He was judged in categories including confidence, interview attire and appearance, theme, and resume and cover letter. Tietjen is a senior at Concord Academy in Petoskey and is in JMG at the Char-Em ISD CTE Welding Program at Pellston. Three other Char-Em JMG students and three TBAISD Career-Tech Center JMG students also attended the Career Development Conference.

This was the 10th year for the Career Development Conference. Over 300 youth, volunteer judges, and employer partners from across the state participated in the event, which gave the students the opportunity to showcase the leadership and employability skills they’ve learned through the JMG program.

JMG helps Michigan's young adults graduate and make successful transitions to postsecondary education or meaningful employment. Northwest Michigan Works! coordinates JMG programs at the Charlevoix-Emmet Intermediate School District, the Traverse Bay Area ISD Career-Tech Center, the Wexford-Missaukee Career Tech Center, and Out of School programs in Kalkaska and Manistee.

As the premier program of Youth Solutions, Inc., JMG equips young people with the skills needed to overcome barriers and ensure Michigan’s youth win in education, employment, and in life. Operating across 208 Michigan cities, JMG works with nearly 3,000 young people annually. For more information on Youth Solutions and its Jobs for Michigan’s Graduates programming, visit ouryouthsolutions.org.