Job hunting can be daunting at times, but once you get the position, it may be even harder to start off on the right foot. At Skillpoint our participants receive both hands-on training and soft skills (or professional development) practice to ensure they are successful once they enter the industry of their choice.
Previously incorporated into our Construction and Healthcare curricula, was one day of professional development where participants would conduct mock interviews, build their resume & cover letters, and learn more about the requirements for joining the field (such as criminal background history). In early 2017, as William Bass (Skillpoint’s Employment Coordinator) kicked off his quarterly Advisory Committees, to meet with industry partners like Efficient Air and Lighthouse Electric, to learn about job trends and needs, that our soft skills training was no longer meeting the needs within HVAC, Electrical, Pipefitting and Certified Nurse Aide employment.
“I decided to pilot a professional development series for our classes because of the feedback I was receiving [from our industry partners]. Companies were telling me that they can easily train employees the technical skills once on the job site, but having professional characteristics at the start of a position, such as being reliable, is the main reason skilled workers are hired or turned away.”
For employers, personality is just as important as technical knowledge; so William’s weekly development series covers topics such as communication, reliability, positive coworker interactions, stress management, and supervisor relationships. Additionally, each soft skill series is tailored to the certification offered, and includes interactive questions and activities for our participants to increase their professional characteristics.
Our Gateway program encompasses the needs of the Construction and Healthcare industries, and offers the appropriate certification training for Central Texas. For more information about our program offerings, please visit: https://skillpointalliance.org/gateway-program/ and follow us on all social media platforms for fun updates from within the classroom.