A JOB AT LAST - University graduate secures employment in his field after STAR story

Scot Bamburry, resident of Wood Hall in Clarendon, is today a happy man. In a May 7 feature in THE WEEKEND STAR, he expressed frustration in not finding a job in the field he was trained for at the Caribbean Maritime University. Bamburry graduated with a diploma in international shipping and logistics in 2008.

Unable to find a job, the 38-year-old worked at a car wash in the community, where the newspaper caught up with him. On Thursday, he could hardly express his emotions as he said he was "overwhelmed".

"Since the story came out, I have been getting a lot of calls, especially from Kingston Wharves Limited. They called me to do an interview and it was today I went there and I did my best," he related, as he shared that it was successful, as he was told to submit a police record and his banking details to the human resource department.

Bamburry said he will be working as a stevedore, who loads or offloads cargo to and/or from a ship.

"I am overwhelmed. I now start to see where my life is heading. It's like I was blind and now I can see. I was there in the community just doing what I was doing, knowing I could do much more and thinking it's not going to work out," he said, still unable to believe his good fortune.

GENUINE PERSON

Another person who is happy for Bamburry is president of the People's National Party (PNP) Mark Golding, who shared with THE WEEKEND STAR that someone sent him the video interview via WhatsApp, where Bamburry discussed the challenges he was facing since he got his diploma and the frustration he encountered in not getting through.

"I just thought he sounded so genuine and so intelligent that I really thought, let me try and help this young man, and I have some colleagues in my network who are persons of influence on the wharf and so I reached out to them, shared the video with them, and I am so gratified that they have taken it on and he will be starting at Kingston Wharves on Monday, and that is absolutely fantastic," Golding informed.

The PNP leader said that he knows what it is like to have a passion for a particular field of work you have qualified yourself for and not being able to practise what you have been taught.

Seeing Bamburry's situation, he said he thought "this guy needs a break, man!"

"There are so many people in Jamaica, young men who have made those kinds of effort, but just haven't been at the right place at the right time or having the right connection to help them along," Golding said, stating that he was also impressed with Bamburry's stance on not starting a family until he could afford to.