Determined students filled the LMC-138 computer lab for the first Career Strategist Workshop at Moorpark College’s Career Week. On March 12, students worked diligently to create strong resumes and learn new job-hunting skills for future career opportunities.
Throughout the workshop, students received tips for building a professional online resume. Students also received aid in opening a Linkedin account and had professional headshots taken for their profiles. At the end of the day, students had the opportunity to practice what they learned with a mock job interview.
The workshop was hosted by the South Central Coast Regional Consortium and funded by the Strong Workforce Grant geared for helping community college students find jobs. The workshop was led by Linkedin Representative Ryan Cervakos, SynEd Project Manager Lee Yarborough and the Associate Director for the School of Extended Learning at Santa Barbara City College Jeanette Chian.
“Everyone can really be overwhelmed with the unknown especially with the job search process, this kind of replaces the unknown with concrete knowledge when it comes to creating your own resume, preparing for an interview, and getting a job,” Chian said.
Celine Park, Career Week’s event coordinator and Moorpark College’s placement project specialist, said in regards to the Strong Workforce Grant that the funds were used to support the entire Career Week.
According to Chian, using Linkedin instead of other professional media platforms increases the chance of being hired.
“Theres a lot of people on Instagram,” Chian said. “So if you redirect time spent from Instagram and use that [time] towards building your network, creating your profile, and even posting your own content that’s job related, that’s going to yield dividends.”
Pavel Castro, a computer engineering student at Moorpark College, said his desire for knowledge motivated him to attend the workshop.
“I learned a lot,” Castro said. “It’s the first time for me doing a workshop and it really showed me the different point of view as an employer, as an employee, how to do a resume, a bit of everything.”
All the students who attended the workshop and participated in the activities received a year long premium subscription to Lynda.com. Lynda offers crash course videos that teach a variety of topics. Students also received a digital badge that they can post on their Linkedin profile.
This badge confirms that students attended the workshop and learned about being interviewed, building a resume, and other job related skills to employers.
“That really shows an employer that they’re being proactive about their career,” Chian said. “This process helps [students] understand more. They’re empowering and give you the boost and confidence to go out there and jumpstart your career.”
Moorpark College is planning to create semester-long courses that are meant to help students build their career skills. The state of California will have to approve the courses.
The Career Transfer Center is hoping these courses will be available for students by next spring.
“It takes a while for the classes to get passed at the state level,” Chian said. “That’s why we wanted to just hurry up and run some workshops to do something in person and serve students.”
If the proposed courses get approved, there will also be free digital badges offered through Moorpark College that will have the same value as the Linkedin badge except they will be connected to the college.
“[The students are] going to be the future leaders, so it’s really exciting for [students who] are learning all the up to date knowledge,” Yarborough said.
