New community career center opens at NSCC

LYNN – When one door closes, another door opens. And city and college officials said the door to the new community career center at North Shore Community College will open many other doors for job seekers.”It’s a beautiful space and we’re going to put it to work,” said Nancy Huntington Stager, chairwoman of the North Shore Workforce Investment Board, at a ribbon-cutting for the facility Tuesday. “We’re changing from one expensive big hub to many smaller hubs that are close, comfortable and accessible in our communities. We’re doing this differently and the reason we’re doing this differently is so that people can get jobs.”The North Shore Workforce Investment Board has operated three main career center locations in Lynn, Salem and Gloucester. These centers provide resources for job seekers, including access to computers and Internet sites with job postings, resume assistance, workshops, skills assessment, interview sessions and more.But investment board officials have cited decreased funding, a changing job market and the digitization of traditional career center services – such as filing for unemployment, and accessing and applying for state benefits, etc. – as motivation for devoting as many resources as possible to the direct training most beneficial to job seekers.These will be delivered at various “access points” throughout the region and in Lynn. One announced center (more will be added, according to the workforce board) will be at the Family iSuccess Center on Wheeler Street. A second is in a classroom at North Shore Community College where many city officials, workforce investment officials and career center employees gathered Tuesday afternoon for a ribbon cutting.”The siting of the Workforce Investment Board Access Point at North Shore Community College allows both students and residents access to career assistance and educational opportunities in one convenient location,” Lynn Mayor Judith Flanagan Kennedy said. “We are excited that these two community fixtures have embraced this venture of providing one-stop shopping for Lynn’s residents.”Career Center employees demonstrated three training services the career center provides to help job seekers.Career Ready 101 provides some of the “soft skills” that job seekers need in today’s economy, such as customer service, interpersonal communication skills, problem solving and critical thinking, and work discipline, Career Center Case Manager Malina Chhan said.A computer program tests and helps job seekers practice these skills and become certified as “Career Ready.”The Transferable Occupation Relationship Quotient (TORQ) Assessment is an online tool to help job seekers assess their skills and determine jobs and careers in which those skills can be used – as well as on which skills a job seeker should try to improve. It is particularly helpful for people who are thinking of changing careers, said Mark Whitmore, executive director of the North Shore Career Center.Case Manager Ana Stipanovic demonstrated the Interview Stream, which is a practice program where job seekers are filmed responding to typical interview questions. The questions can be changed according to the industry in which a person is seeking work, and the playback can be informative, counting “umms” and “ahhs,” and even eventually allowing interviewers to screen potential applicants.Lynn Area Chamber of Commerce President and Executive Director Leslie Gould told guests how such video playback helped her gain confidence when she was a broadcast journalist interviewing people and delivering news on television.”Believe it or not, I used to be shy,” Gould joked.North Shore Community College President Dr. Patricia Gentile told guests that two students had already used the facility before it officially opened.In a previous interview, Gentile described the center as a “win-win” for the city and the college.”(The Workforce Investment Board) wanted to continue to provide a good service in Lynn, and we have 3,500 students