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Goodwill aims to aid job seekers
The job market in Arizona is improving, but many Valley residents are still searching for a new career. Kimberly Hall, the director of career services for Goodwill of Central Arizona, said more people are looking for work right now and more businesses are currently hiring because there always tends to be an increase in job openings during the first quarter of a new year. That means more businesses should be hiring through the end of March, she said. “A lot of people who are looking for work are looking for better work,” Hall said. Hall oversees 14 career centers across the Phoenix metro area, from Avondale to Apache Junction. On any given day, about 420 job seekers visit the career centers, which are open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. The number of people using Goodwill’s career services increased dramatically once the recession began, Hall said. “After the boom hit in 2008, our numbers skyrocketed,” she said. Programs offered at the career centers help prepare job seekers for interviews and instruct them on how to write a resume and cover letter that will stand out to employers. The primary goal, however, is simply to get people to work....
PCDT was awarded several Partnership Excellence Awards from the City of Phoenix
Phoenix College Downtown was honored & awarded several Partnership Excellence Awards from the City of Phoenix - Phoenix Workforce Connections' Community Dialogue & Awards event on September 9 2010, at Burton Barr Library.
This was the biggest award given: Partnership Excellence of the Year: Phoenix College Downtown
In addition, Phoenix College Downtown also won Partnership Excellence Awards for the following programs Phoenix College Downtown provided in 2009-2010 for the City of Phoenix - Phoenix Workforce Connection:
1. Youth Pharmacy Technician Program: Honorees were Roberta Jeffers & Don Jensen-Bobadilla
2. Fast Track Licensed Practical Nurse Program for Workforce Investment Act Customers: Honorees were Roberta Jeffers, Don Jensen-Bobadilla & Dr. Sharon Halford
3. Dialysis Technician Program: Honorees were Roberta Jeffers & our PCDT dialysis technician instructor, Jackie Simien
4. Summer Youth Work Experience Program:Honorees were Roberta Jeffers, Don Jensen-Bobadilla, Vashi Worley, Alfredo Hernandez & Nancy Navarrete.
Youth Pharmacy Technician Graduation
Congratulations to the 16 students who recently completed the Youth Pharmacy Technician & Work Externship Program. PC's key partners in the program include the City of Phoenix, CVS Pharmacy, and Arizona Call-A-Teen, Inc. The students participated in a graduation ceremony on December 17, 2009, and one of them has already been hired by CVS Pharmacy as a pharmacy technician. In addition, eight of the graduates were awarded $500 scholarships to continue their studies at PC.
Congratulations also to Roberta Jeffers and the Phoenix College Custom Training & Education staff, who were presented with an award from the Phoenix Community Development & Investment Corporation during the graduation ceremony. CTE staff were honored for their dedication and commitment to the 2009 Pharmacy Technician Internship Program. Great job!
Youth Pharmacy Technician & Work Externship Program graduates:
Allisun Vojir
Angelica Aguirre
Angelica Gonzalez
Antwane Riggins
Arvin Vanpelt
Candice Dominguez
Cassandra Prince
Damian Ramirez
Frank Villa
Jessica Vellasenor
Kawana Moore
Liberal Giramata
Lucille Longoria
Maria Perez
Sharifah Brent
Victoria Gonzalez
Phoenix College Custom Training and Education (CTE), the Phoenix Workforce Connection (PWC) and Walgreens partnered together to implement a customized training opportunity, funded through the American Recovery & Reinvestment Act (ARRA), for laid-off workers interested in pursuing careers as Pharmacy Technicians.
The three week training was designed to include a fast track curriculum and provide an equal amount of time for a job training externship at Walgreens. The classes, taught by an interim licensed or practicing Registered Pharmacist or Doctor of Pharmacy, were customized to teach various pharmacy practice settings, basic physiology, prescription interactions, and daily pharmacy operations.
“As part of the funding from ARRA, the goal of the program was to offer employment to laid-off, unemployed students who proved to be a good match to job openings at the externship site,” said Phoenix College CTE Director Roberta Jeffers.
The training began early October, and already five out of 16 students have been offered a permanent employment with Walgreens.
The City of Phoenix may extend the funding for occupational training in information technology, photovoltaic, dental assisting, and certified nursing assisting to other Maricopa community colleges in Spring 2010.
Training is held at the Phoenix College Downtown campus, located at 640 N. 1st Ave. in downtown Phoenix.
PC Downtown Celebrates second Dialysis Technician Graduation
April 20, 2010 was a very proud day for Phoenix College Downtown, marking the second Dialysis Technician Graduation celebration. Eleven students graduated from the program, a partnership with Arizona Call-A-Teen Youth Resources Inc. that prepares students to enter the Patient Care Technician Field. The course includes lecture, hands-on labs, and coordinated field trips to Dialysis Centers/Hospitals. Congratulations to the new graduates, our partners at Arizona Call-A-Teen Youth Resources Inc., and the PC Downtown staff!
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After construction, finding new purpose
Job history: He was laid off in November 2008 from his job as a plumber on high-rise buildings in Las Vegas. About a year earlier, business was booming, pay rates were $37 an hour and overtime was plentiful.
Path to Phoenix Workforce Connection: Rayford applied for jobs ranging from baggage handler to casino hospitality worker to grocery worker to hardware-store salesman.
"I got to the point where I got sick and tired of putting applications online because I never got any callbacks," Rayford said. "I needed to make a move altogether because nothing was working out."
Rayford lives with relatives and found out about assistance from Phoenix Workforce Connection online in August when he returned to Arizona.
The class: Case workers helped Rayford to enroll in an accelerated pharmacy-technician training course at Phoenix College. The class met for six hours each Monday and Wednesday. Rayford, like other students, participated in an "externship" on Tuesdays and Thursdays at a nearby Walgreens.
Rayford said he studied for three hours each night, on everything from counting out medicine and entering patient data to helping pharmacists with compounds.
Stimulus money from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funded the $915 course and the $129 fee for a certification test. The course started Oct. 5 and finished Nov. 20.
Outlook for future: "For me to be in this position, even to have gone this far, I feel like I'm privileged because I have a purpose, I have a future," Rayford said.
- Alex Bloom
Read the complete article in the Arizona Republic
Phoenix College Downtown . 640 North 1st Avenue . Phoenix, Arizona 85003 . 602-223-4000