Thurs., Jan. 29

Mirror, Mirror

Today, as part of a "mirror exercise" to help us find out more about ourselves and our values,

we drew:

• 2 things that we do well
• our greatest success in life
• what we would do with 1 year left to live
• our "psychological" home
• the 3 most influential people in our life
• 3 words that we would like said about us

Self-Directed Search (SDS)

Ginny coded our SDS assessments and discussed occupation types: realistic (R); investigative (I); artistic (A); social (S); enterprising (E); conventional (C). I scored highest on artistic, social, and enterprising. Looking in the occupation finder, I found that examples of occupations suitable for ASEs are story editor, playwright, and public relations representative.

Transferable Skills

We also learned about transferable skills and received a couple of handouts to identify our skill areas, including skills we have, skills we want to develop, and skills we have but don't want to use. My strongest skill area is my communication skills--which include explaining, interacting, listening, presenting, proposing, recruiting, resolving, teaching, writing ... and persuading. I definitely want to develop my persuading skills!!

Resumes and Cover Letters

Ginny explained the different types of resumes:

1. chronological
2. functional
3. hybrid

and discussed the importance of targeting your resume for a specific job, as well as what to include in a cover letter.

Homework assignment: Our homework is to prepare a chronological resume. Don't forget to include your Project Transition Certification under as part of your education.

SNOW DAY

Snow Day - School Closed!

Congratulations to Dawn

who accepted a job with

the Boy Scouts of America.

Tues., Jan. 27

Career Counseling

We met with career counselor Ginny Ruder today. She won't be using a textbook; instead, she'll be giving us handouts. In the morning, we received handouts with the class outline and about career transitioning, the most effective job search methods, networking, and suggested reading lists. We each gave the class a brief summary of our work experience and education, and we completed an SDS, which measures our interests and abilities. We also scheduled appointments for our 45-minute private career counseling session, as well as appointments with Career Closet. In the afternoon, Ginny showed us the best way to search for jobs on the Internet, and we visited a couple of Web sites, e.g., www.idealist.org and www.careerbuilder.com. It was an informative and interesting class!

For homework we are to find three jobs on the Internet that we would like to apply for and the salary range for a position we may be interested in (www.salaryexpert.com). We are then to use www.acinet.org/acinet/skills_about.asp to focus on our skills and job options.

Quote for the day: "You must be the change you wish to see in the world."--Mahatma Gandhi

p.s. - check out www.lohud.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2009901260323

Week 2, Day 1

Wow, we covered a lot of material today, i.e., lessons 5, 6, and 7 in the Microsoft Office 2007: Essentials handbook!!

We learned about the new features of MS Word 2007 - including: "the ribbon" (which replaces the the menu bars and toolbars); contextual tabs; live preview; galleries; the office button; the quick access toolbar; the dialog box launcher; the mini toolbar; etc., etc. - and we practiced using many of these features in class.

The homework assignment is to read lessons 6 and 7 and to do the exercises on pages 168-174 and 207-211. But in order to complete the skill builders at home, you need to have Word 2007, and you need the files from lesson 7 (which should be stored in C:/work area/project transition/lesson 7). Fortunately, we have a career class and career lab tomorrow, so we'll have another day to complete the computer homework.

Don't forget to bring a copy of your resume to class tomorrow! Also note that we're expecting a couple of snow storms this week, so Vicky put together a snow list of student's names and phone numbers.

Sorry for the lateness of this post. Completing the homework is more time consuming than I anticipated. . . .

Day 3

We did hands-on exercises during class and also during lab time. Homework: Read pgs. 68-91. Do skill builder exercises on pgs. 93-97 and assessment exercises on pgs. 97-98. Enjoy the weekend everyone ... I'll be singing in a "City Called Heaven VI" choral festival on Sun., Jan. 25, at 3 p.m. at the Reformed Church of Cortlandtown in Montrose, NY. All are welcome!

Day 2

Today Vicky reviewed what we learned yesterday and taught us about basic file management. We also used the paint accessory, which was a lot of fun!

Homework: Read pages 101-122 (lesson 4) and answer the questions on page 123. Also, please send an e-mail with an attachment to Vicky at vhkconsulting@earthlink.net.

Day 1

Hello and welcome to my Project Transition blog.

Background
Project Transition is an office skills program offered by Westchester Community College to help qualified "displaced homemakers" gain marketable job skills. The program is funded by the New York State Department of Labor, the Office of Workforce Development, and the Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance. Participants learn how to use Microsoft Office 2007 (including Outlook, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint) and are guided in their job search. Classes, which are held Monday through Friday from 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., are taught by a Microsoft Office master instructor and by a professional career counselor. One such program is being held from January 21 to March 13 at the Ossining Extension Center, located in the Arcadian Shopping Center off Route 9. For more information, please call coordinator Marika Scotti at 914-606-6825 or visit the Web site at www.sunywcc.edu/projecttransition.

Project Transition Day 1
Director Mia Fienemann welcomed us to the Spring 2009 Project Transition and introduced us to the Project Transition team (coordinator Marika Scotti; computer instructor Vicky Hayes-Kelder; and career counselor Ginny Ruder), as well as to the director of the Ossining Extension Center. Job developer Carol Barlia was not present, but she is also a member of the team and will be assisting us with our job search strategy.

Ms. Fienemann gave a brief history of the program, outlined the course work involved, and clarified the requirements for successful completion. She told us that one of the perks of the program will be a visit to the Career Closet in Briarcliff Manor, where we will receive a free outfit suitable for business!

Homework: Read pages 6 to 34 in the Microsoft Office 2007: Essentials handbook.

p.s. - I'd like to write more about Day 1, but I have to cook dinner, do my homework, and go to choir practice!!