16 Oct News and notes
In the immortal words of Luther Vandross, “Ain’t no stoppin’ us now/We’re on the move!” Here’s what’s been happening (and what will be happening!) at your NCWorks Career Centers!
U.S. Deputy Secretary of Labor Christopher Lu visits Charlotte Works
U.S. Deputy Secretary of Labor Christopher Lu capped his Charlotte-based celebration of National Manufacturing Day with a visit with Charlotte Works on Oct. 2. After touring precision-machine manufacturer Daetwyler Industries USA and the mechatronics lab at Central Piedmont Community College, where he served on a panel discussion about manufacturing, Lu spent about an hour-and-a-half at the NCWorks Career Center on W. Morehead Street, which is managed by Charlotte Works.
While there, he addressed a group of students who were attending Working Smart: Soft Skills for Workplace Success, a soft-skills curriculum developed by Charlotte Works in partnership with a group of community organizations focused on workforce development. To the group, Lu offered his top three pieces of advice for workplace success (“If you don’t do the little things well, you won’t do the big things well;” “take ownership of projects; don’t just do the bare minimum;” and “be nice to everybody, especially in the workplace: your boss, your co-workers, the guy in the mailroom.”)
He also underscored this piece of job-search advice: “I’m very big on first impressions. What’s your elevator pitch? You’d be amazed at how many people go into interviews without having thought that through. At least do your basic research about the company, but then take it to the next level and show how your passions fit the job and the company.”
Lu then met with six young people who are participating in Charlotte Works’ Youth Works program. He asked each member of the group to share his or her age, program status and future plans. Lu then asked them very pointed questions about how the Department of Labor could do a better job of reaching and serving young people and was genuinely interested in their responses. In response to Lu’s question, “What motivates you?,” one young man said, “the want, the need to be better.” And Lu closed the meeting by describing how inspired he was by that need to be better.
Read more about Lu’s visit with the youth in President and CEO Steve Partridge’s column this month.
Employers, are you interested in hiring veterans? Attend the Charlotte Alliance for Veteran Employment (CAVE) Summit
We’re pleased to announce the 2nd Annual Employer Summit for Talent Acquisition, Human Resources and Hiring Managers on Monday, Oct. 26, from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Central Piedmont Community College’s (CPCC) Harris Conference Center (3216 CPCC Harris Campus Dr., 28208). The event is free, but registration is required.
Join us for a day of collaboration to learn more about best practices for hiring veterans, brought to you by Charlotte Bridge Home and Charlotte Works.
NCWorks Online rolls out enhancements
If you haven’t logged into NCWorks Online in the last several weeks, you may have missed several important enhancements for job-seekers and employers:
- For job-seekers, the resume builder has updated titles and new, easy-to-see icons for the four ways to create a resume (build it using the system, upload from a Word document or PDF, copy-and-paste, copy from an existing resume.
- For both job-seekers and employers, labor market information (LMI) now offers enhanced views of candidate “point maps,” which provide data on candidates, and added display options. The point maps are included in several easily accessible locations in the LMI Profiles for job-seekers and in the “Analyze the Job Market” widget of the employer dashboard.
Charlotte Works awarded for service to seniors
Charlotte Works received the Victor W. Marshall Award for Public Sector Host Agency from the N.C. Division of Aging and Adult Services at the 2015 National Employer Older Workers Week Awards Luncheon held in Raleigh, N.C., on Sept. 30.
The Victor W. Marshall Award, named for the former director of the N.C. Institute on Aging, recognizes a N.C. employer “that has excelled in creating and fostering a supportive environment for older workers.”
Talisa Hite, training specialist with the NCWorks Training Center presented the award for being “very responsive to the needs of older workers and the unique circumstances that come with the SCSEP [Senior Community Service Employment Program] participants,” particularly their inclusion in the Working Smart: Soft Skills for Workplace Success soft-skills curriculum that helps prepare people for workplace success.
Through the SCSEP, which “places individuals 55 and older who are economically disadvantaged into part-time community service assignments while helping them transition into unsubsidized employment,” Charlotte Works has served as a host agency to seven program participants since 2013 and employed one older worker in a full-time role.
Volunteers recognized at annual appreciation event
Nearly 40 people gathered at The Palmer Building on Oct. 8 to acknowledge the contributions of 84 NCWorks Career Center volunteers who’ve collectively contributed more than 1,700 hours since January at an appreciation event themed “Evening of Excellence.”
“Our volunteers are an extension of our team. With them, we’re able to offer a more robust menu of services to job-seeking clients,” says Director of Talent Development Jaslyn Roberts.
The volunteer program’s new name, Volunteers@Works, logo and tagline were also revealed during the reception after months of planning and feedback from volunteers.
“The fact that [NCWorks Career Center] hosted a top-notch event in our honor shows that the organization treasures the time that we as volunteers give back to NCWorks and the community as a whole,” says Cathy Lloyd, a Resource Center volunteer at the W. Morehead Street Center.
Your next opportunity is around the corner!
Sharpen your job-search skills at these NCWorks Career Center workshops during the last couple of weeks in October!