Wednesday marked a day of notable change for Ramatoulaye Koete: as she spoke to career scouts, her English flowed — something not possible for her last year — and she was one step closer to a new job.

A billing job, perhaps. A City of Winnipeg staffer flagged it to Koete. She and roughly 400 others had registered for StratHR Solutions’s women’s career fair, which the company touted as a woman-focused first in Manitoba.

“It was a great opportunity for me to meet (employers) here and to introduce myself, and to know how to apply,” Koete said.

Finding a job has been tough, she relayed. She’s been in Winnipeg for 18 months. To start, Koete couldn’t speak English — she’d come from Mali, a West African country, and French was her native tongue.

“I’m looking for French positions, but they nee

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