The Arkansas Northeastern College Workforce Orientation and
Retraining Keys (W.O.R.K.) Program was designed to take individuals unemployed
and underemployed revamp there approach to obtaining a job or career. We were
looking to give these students within Mississippi County an opportunity to have
a foundation to stand on in order to grow and develop into something more
concrete and stable to improve their quality of life through a career.
We have
taken individuals who have had felony backgrounds, no job experience, and
individuals who have just had trouble obtaining another opportunity because of
previous bad job history retrained there way of processing the job search and
how to go after job opportunities. One of the biggest things students lack is
confident and how to properly exhibit the skills needed for a job by starting
with the simplest thing such as filling out an application neatly and
accurately. From there we began to dissect the little things within an
interview from the handshake, their countenance or demeanor during the
interview, and being able to humbly brag on themselves throughout the interview
in a way that a company can see how there skill or work ethic would coincide
with their work environment.
Initially
our goal when beginning the W.O.R.K. Program was to get these students jobs. As
we continued to evolve the program has also began striving to see the
individuals become more educated in certain fields or return to get their
degree they once intended to receive. Our goal at this point is to make our
students more employable period. We take individuals through a goal setting
session where we look to figure out what their career goals are. The students
begin to develop a plan and focus on the steps needed to execute it. Some
students come into the W.O.R.K. Program just looking to get a job but leave
with a mindset and goal to obtain a career. We cover many things within the
program such as Problem Solving, Math Skills, Career Ready 101, Quality
Concepts, Goal-Setting, Safety, Correct Use of Tools, Computer Concepts, and
First Aid and CPR. All these sessions total 60 hours of class time. Once they
complete these hours they receive Career Readiness Certificate, First Aid CPR
Certification, and the Certificate of Completion of the W.O.R.K. Program, which
also comes with a stipend up to $300.00.
So far we
have had 91 graduates from the W.O.R.K. Program since September of 2013. Out of
the 91 students 64% have either went to work or returned to post-secondary
education to receive their degree. We are currently looking to graduate 32 more
students at the end of this month. 21 of those students are enrolled in our
Community Corrections W.O.R.K. Class. We are continuing to move forward with
the program and continue to evolve the program to help individuals that are
looking for a better way to resolve their problems, which is one of the many ways
Arkansas Northeastern College’s Solutions Group are looking to change the
workforce of Mississippi County.
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