Get Tough with Soft Skills

Leaving high school can be a scary time. You may feel ready to make your own way in the world, but suddenly realize how many everyday activities you?ve never even thought about.

Face it, you may not know the slightest thing about how to balance a checkbook, write a resume, complete a rental application, change a tire, present yourself in a job interview or even where to look for a job. (Unless you read the rest of this magazine!)
Being grown-up means more than just having a driver?s license. It can be a lot less overwhelming if you?re armed with a few essential life skills. If you didn?t pick them up in school or from your parents ? research says you probably didn?t ? you can always learn from trial and error. If you want to save yourself some heartache, you can take advantage of free programs designed to help you leave the nest with grace.
Colorado Workforce Centers offer ongoing workshops in ?soft skills? or job readiness classes, taught by professionals who work strictly with youth. Counselors also work one-on-one with young people to assess skills, write a resume and arrange job-shadowing opportunities as well as help complete a rental application, balance a checkbook and other, non-employment-related tasks.
?These Workforce Centers have so many community-based organizations hooked to them, so, if we don?t teach those skills, they do,? explains Juli Berge, statewide coordinator of the Governor?s Summer Job Hunt.

SUMMER JOBS AND MORE
The primary focus of the 64 state-sponsored Workforce Centers is employment for all job seekers in Colorado. Each center features a multi-media resource library equipped with Internet-enabled computers, phones, faxes and voice mailboxes. Anyone can find job listings, use self-assessment software programs or study the labor market. Best of all, the services offered at the centers are free.
Every summer, the Workforce Centers host the Governor?s Summer Job Hunt, a series of job fairs that match employers and young job seekers between the ages
of 14 and 21 (www. coworkforce.com, click on Governor?s Summer Job Hunt).
?Once somebody graduates and they?re looking for a job, we just treat them like people in the workforce. We really are there to help them in all aspects of the job search,? said Tom Miller, executive director of Workforce Boulder County.
Young people who meet certain income and family size requirements can also receive a few months of paid job experience through Colorado Workforce Centers. The program partners with local employers to fund part of an employee?s salary. Students can receive tutoring and even some tuition assistance to attend community colleges or private schools, and may also qualify for bus passes and other work-related transportation assistance.
? Sheryl Bass

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