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Friday, September 16, 2011

Competencies Employers Want & Events

We were honored to attend the California Workforce Association Meeting of the Minds convening in Monterey last week. The conference focuses on "Next Practices," a forward thinking approach in a field that tends to lag behind industry. We were particularly interested and inspired by a presentation called Economic and Workforce Implications in the Age of iPads, Android Apps, and the Social Web  which summarized an IT industry cluster survey  sponsored by NOVA in San Jose. They interviewed 53 and surveyed 251  IT employers to get pointed feedback on what they are looking for in new hires. The results should inform not just adult workforce providers, but educators and youth service agencies as well. Most of it isn't a surprise but just confirms how much these employers value these competencies:
  • Job-seekers must demonstrate problem solving skills (in the interview!)
  • Technical skills are still important, but demonstration of talent is critical
  • Training and education programs should offer 
    • Portfolio Class Meets Learning Lab-employers want employees with hands-on, real world experience and a portfolio to prove it
    • Team-based learning opportunities
    • Entrepreneurship training
    • Contextualized problem solving
    • Offer cross-functional training in order to hasten the move beyond job titles and move to job functions
The presentation was very informative. Please click on link above to see it in its entirety.


EVENTS 
We are gearing up for a busy fall. We are offering a series of project-based learning and career development trainings on behalf of the SF Department of Children, Youth and Their Families' Quality Initiative. If you are a YLEAD grantee and would like to attend one of our trainings, please email us.

WomenTech Educators is offering a two-day Train-the-Trainer Workshop on October 13th-14th in Emeryville. The workshop is called Create the reality of having women and girls in your STEM classrooms. If you are struggling to entice young women into your STEM training programs, this would be useful for your team to attend. They have a special offer:  the 3rd person from the same team can attend for FREE: Enter this code when you register: 3FOR2TRAINING   
They also offer webinars that are shorter and more accessible.

Mark your calendars! The Workforce Development Summit 2011, sponsored by the Bay Area Coalition for Employment Development, will be held November 18 in San Jose.  It is geared toward workforce development front-line practitioners.  Register at EventBrite.

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