Career Services

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Charlotte Works empowers job seekers by supporting their employment & training needs

  • Resume/interview preparation
  • Career development workshops
  • Job referral assistance
  • Essential skills training and coaching
  • Short-term training
  • On-site computers for job searches
  • Certification scholarships

In addition to helping all job seekers regardless of employment status, our NCWorks Career Center provides specific services to those who file for unemployment. This video is intended to inform individual of their requirements while filing for unemployment. More specifically, this video covers weekly certifications and properly reporting any wages earned while filing for unemployment.

To get started on your career journey, visit our My Career page where you can make an appointment at our career center, register online, and view our career pathways.

My Career page

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Working Smart for Job Seekers

Employers are looking for people who not only have the technical skills and experience to do the job, but also possess the “soft skills” that lead to success. This includes communication skills, problem-solving, time management, accountability, and more. Working Smart provides the tools to help you keep a job, excel at your job, and be more productive overall.

During the Working Smart program, you will master the skills that employers believe are critical to job success. If you are interested in increasing your chances for employment and promotion, you should enroll. All classes are free for job seekers.

Learn more about the classes and how to register

Working Smart: Essential Skills for Workplace Success consists of five modules taught over a minimum of 24 hours. Agency scheduling varies, but most sites offer the program multiple days per week so you can complete the certification in less than a month.

Here’s what you learn in a Working Smart training session:

Self-Awareness Skills

Self-awareness skills needed to portray a confident and authentic sense of self. Examples include identifying your core values and goals, learning how beliefs drive behaviors, understanding the process of change, and realizing the power of perceptions.

Employer-Awareness Skills

Employer-awareness skills needed to separate your personal and professional selves. Examples include understanding unspoken workplace expectations, managing competing home and work demands, taking initiative, being accountable, and using professional judgment while at work.

Self-Management Skills

Self-management skills needed to respond to and de-escalate stressful situations that could put jobs at risk. You will have a clear understanding of stress and its impact on behavior and learn strategies to manage emotions when they are triggered at work.

Conflict Resolution and Critical-Thinking Skills

Conflict resolution and critical-thinking skills needed to solve problems and make decisions at work. You will learn to work through interpersonal problems, analyze information, clearly express concerns at work, manage difficult situations, compromise with colleagues, and receive feedback and direction from supervisors.

Communication Skills

Communication skills needed to handle everyday interactions with customers, co-workers, and supervisors. Examples include providing excellent service, sending and receiving messages effectively, strengthening active listening skills, and understanding the impact of non-verbal communication.

Upon completion, you will possess the employability skills most important to employers. In addition, you will receive a certificate from Charlotte Works that is supported by Charlotte-Mecklenburg Workforce Development Partners. This helps you stand out from the crowd and gives you a competitive edge as a job-seeker or employee working toward a promotion.

Job seekers interested in registering for Working Smart, contact NCWorks

“Working Smart gave me a better understanding of myself and my future. I now feel prepared to move forward with my life and plan my career, not just a job.”

~ Working Smart Program Graduate

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NCWorks CARE3 Program

In addition to our career centers, our NCWorks CARE3 program places career advisors at specified sites around the county to extend our outreach beyond our walls and serve a greater number of job seekers.

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Leading the development of a skilled and in-demand workforce by engaging businesses, aligning community partners, empowering and connecting job seekers to meaningful employment, and fostering inclusive economic growth.