A short piece in today’s New York Times speaks to the vulnerability of many workers today, and the price of sticking up for one’s rights. Our primary focus at CEWD is delivering skills-based training. We are also aware that many jobs, especially entry-level positions – in healthcare, in food service, in retail – are physically demanding. Talking to our students about, and creating an environment that acknowledges the context of work and the policies that shape it, is critical to our mission.
Tag Archives: jobs
CUNY CareerPATH in the News
Yesterday we highlighted a piece from Tom Hilliard at the Center for Urban Future about the need for Mayor de Blasio to focus on supporting CUNY community colleges. The report detailed interventions that CUNY community colleges have created to help students get accepted, stay in and get jobs through early college experiences. CUNY CareerPATH was highlighted as a successful workforce training program, and one that should be enhanced with greater support and collaboration throughout the city:
“Not only does Career Path deserve to be scaled up, it also would benefit from deeper coordination with city workforce, education and youth development agencies, which the de Blasio administration could expedite.”
While this article focuses on the future of CUNY initiatives, CUNY CareerPATH’s programs are still active and offering support to New York City residents who want to receive training for a better job or a place in higher education. Read more about CUNY CareerPATH here. Information sessions are continually being offered for many of our programs. If you think this program is right for you, fill out this quick survey and a CareerPATH representative will call you back to discuss eligibility and next steps.
February Job Fairs/Events NYC
Now that you have a new resume in hand, and you’ve read up about how to present yourself at both career fairs and interviews, it’s time to put your new skills to work!
Upcoming Fairs/Workshops/Events*:
- February 5, 2014 11:00a-3:00p—New York City Career Fair @ Holiday Inn Midtown 440 W. 57th St, NYC
- February 6, 2014 6:30p-9:00p–Homebrew NYC Tech Job Fair @ 1412 Broadway, 22 Floor. For engineers.
- February 13, 2014 7:30a-3:00p—Mosaic Career Fair @ 45 East 45th Street, NYC. Workshops, panels and career expo. Focus on minorities (but open to all) in advertising, marketing and communications fields.
Resources:
- NYS Department of Labor
- Workforce1 recruitment events
- New York Public Library resources for job seekers
- Brooklyn Public Library career services events
*Check with sponsors/locations to verify event details.
**This is not the most comprehensive list. If you are sponsoring an event and would like it mentioned on our site, please leave a comment and we’ll make sure it is listed in upcoming posts.
Changes in the Kitchen
CUNY CareerPATH Culinary Arts Program, in the kitchen
A recent New York Times article, A Change in the Kitchen, digs deep into the changing roles of women in professional kitchens. For decades, thanks to low-pay, long hours and general high turnover, the food industry has largely been one for transient workers—oftentimes with more qualified workers leaving both jobs and the larger industry after a relatively short period of time. In the last few decades, in part due to the acknowledgement of basic worker rights, there’s been a move towards supporting employee satisfaction, with kitchens offering benefits, sick time and the possibility for promotion. Add to this to growing prestige of the culinary world, due partially to evolving food fads, the opening of specialized restaurants, and the glitz and glam of the industry via reality cooking shows.
While these factors have changed the industry as a whole, one of the more pronounced developments has been the role of women in the kitchen.
Success Stories from Project Rise
Project Rise participants at Kingsborough
Project Rise has been recognized as a highly successful program that re-connects young adults to education and employment. At Kingsborough, we have had amazing success with overall outcomes, increasing the number of enrolled participants, number of GEDs earned and increased employment with each cohort. What is even more significant is hearing the unexpected personal achievements of our participants—achievements that are not tracked by numbers, but recognized and highly valued by program staff, counselors and participants.
Despite an unexpected family illness and severe financial impediments, L.B. from Cohort 1 stayed on track with the help of counselors. On top of earning his GED, L. also started a clothing line and opened his own business. His story returns full-circle with his business becoming an internship site for current/future Project Rise participants.
Job Fairs/Events NYC
Now that you have a new resume in hand, and you’ve read up about how to present yourself at both career fairs and interviews, it’s time to put your new skills to work! As a new series, we’ll be posting upcoming job fairs and other job-related events that are being held in the NYC region.
Upcoming Fairs/Workshops/Events*:
- 1/16/14 10:00-2:00—Diversity/Professional Job Fair @ Holiday Inn Midtown 440 W. 57th St, NYC
- 1/20/14 11:00-2:00–New York City Career Fair @ Holiday Inn Midtown 440 W. 57th St, NYC
- 1/22/14 12:30-2:00—Job Searching Skills Seminar @ Grand Central Library 135 E. 46th NYC St. Tom Powner at Career Thinker Inc.
Resources:
- NYS Department of Labor
- Workforce1 recruitment events
- New York Public Library resources for job seekers
- Brooklyn Public Library career services events
*Check with sponsors/locations to verify event details.
**This is not the most comprehensive list. If you are sponsoring an event and would like it mentioned on our site, please leave a comment and we’ll make sure it is listed in upcoming posts.
Preparing for the Interview
Preparing for the Interview
Throughout our job search discussions, we haven’t talked much about what to do when you land an interview. While this can be the most stressful step, it is something you can (and should!) prepare for. And preparation goes a long way.
The interview process will be different for every company/organization. With so many applicants, some companies are holding group interviews. If the position is in a different city, you might be asked for a phone or even a Skype interview. Despite this, there is basic crossover across all types–individual and group interviews, in-person and virtual–and across employment types–full- and part-time positions, internships, consulting jobs, etc.
As soon as you land the interview, start preparing right away:
Minimum Wage Increase New York
Along with a dozen other states, New York is set to increase the minimum wage on January 1st from $7.25/hr to $8.00/hr (with plans to raise to $9.00/hr by 2015). While national discussion is largely focused on a possible federal increase, on a local level, this increase will have a significant effect on thousands of New Yorkers. Since 2009, the last wage increase for the state, the cost of living in New York has steadily increased: rent stabilized apartments have risen each year, between 2.5 and 8% (depending on 1- or 2-year leases); the cost of a single ride on the subway has increased by $0.50, not counting the steep increases to unlimited cards and the addition of a fee for every new metrocard purchase; and basic grocery items continue to rise. According to the Fiscal Policy Institute, the upcoming wage increases will significantly effect on younger adults with hourly-paid jobs who clock in 20+ hours a week and don’t currently have a college degree. In addition to the overall economic boosts that come from wage increases (people putting that extra money back into the economy by way of spending), we can’t help but think that a portion of the population might use those extra funds towards either valuable skills training or higher education.
Are you one of the thousands that will be effected by this increase? Have you decided where your extra money will go?
The Shifting Workforce
Failure to Launch, from the Center on Education and the Workforce at Georgetown University, speaks to many of the issues we talked about in an earlier post regarding the changing atmosphere of the workforce. This report goes further into studying the effects this shift has on educational and labor market institutions. In six parts, this report analyzes long-term labor trends since the 1980s; more recent trends since 2000, the effects of the recessions that dominated that time, and a look at how both younger and older workers have been effected; specific geographic regions at the top and bottom of unemployment markers; social and cultural stereotypes of those who fare the worst during times of unemployment; policy recommendations to fix the lagging workforce structure; and finally, reasons to be hopeful about these overall shifts.
The Non-Linear Workforce
Gone are the days that a worker stayed with a single company throughout their entire career. Times have changed so much that today, it’s rare to even find workers remaining in a single industry. While just saying this has given many people solace in the unpredictability of their job progression, it’s important to point out the more tangible reasons for this change; some have almost nothing to do with the individual worker.