Career Center

Last night was the first chance many Carroll County teens had to invite the boss to dinner.The annual Employer-Employee Dinner at the Carroll County Career and Technology Center allowed students who spent the semester in work programs to thank the employers who hired them.After three semesters at the career center, students have the option of spending the fourth semester working in the community in the field they are studying."Most of them start out as part-time jobs during the school year," said Gene Dolly, work coordinator for the school.

Lanham-based veterans group Amvets has been awarded a $250,000 grant to bring veterans' job services to 20 new markets around the country. The grant comes from the Call of Duty Endowment, which provides grants to groups that find jobs for veterans. Amvets expects to open career centers in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Iowa, California, Florida, Missouri and Tennessee. The unemployment rate for veterans improved overall in 2012 to 7 percent, according to a U.S. Labor Department annual report released Wednesday.

At these ticket counters at Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport, you can't get a reservation. But you can leave with something else: job prospects. Anne Arundel County officials will open a career center tomorrow designed as a clearinghouse to help job seekers find work at the airport. It joins a small but growing number of employment sites at airports around the country where economic development officials and nonprofit groups try to find workers for what essentially is a small city.

It was with sadness that I learned of the imminent closing of Open Doors Career Center after a story that ran July 1 in our paper, which stated that the nonprofit organization was forced to officially dissolve as of June 30 in response to budget cuts over the past few years. I don't know a lot about the agency, but was compelled to take a closer look after hearing the news that Open Doors would be shutting its doors. Founded in 1979, the center originally served displaced homemakers and at-home moms and over the next three decades expanded its programs to serve teens and seniors.

Tip of the week: Preparing for interviews When you go into an interview, remember that you are interviewing them just as much as they are interviewing you. It has to be a mutually beneficial relationship and a good fit for both of you. Be prepared with questions that are important to you in deciding whether this is the right job or not. Think back to your past experiences and what was positive about them as well as negative. Maybe you once worked for someone who wasn't much of a mentor.

TREVIS TYREE, 17, son of Larry and Judy Tyree of Bachman Valley Drive in Westminster.School: Senior at Westminster High School and the Carroll County Career and Technology Center.Honored for: Being student of the month at the career center, for his work in pioneering a program to teach computer-assisted design and machining in the machine technology shop."We're very proud of what Trevis has done," said William Hill, who teaches machine technology.Trevis is taking separate computer programs for design and manufacturing, and reprogramming them to work with machines the shop that manufacture parts.

Your recent article "Help's on the way with career center" (Aug. 12)," highlights a great tool to help residents of Baltimore County to connect to employment opportunities. During these difficult economic times, a greater number of Baltimore area residents have found themselves out of work, through no fault of their own. As local companies have downsized or simply closed their doors, their former employees need to access resources to re-enter the workforce. In particular, the county's Mobile Career Center can help jobseekers access occupational training programs that can give them the skills they need to compete for jobs in areas of our local economy that hold promise for future career options.

Less than four years ago, Bill Harmon lived hand to mouth on the streets of Baltimore, struggled with a drug addiction that depleted his savings and had no prospects for a job with a future. These days, a drug-free Harmon has a job he believes is the future, thanks to a green careers training program run by Civic Works, Baltimore's urban service corps. Harmon, 56, works as a field technician in the burgeoning environmental industry, where he tests for contaminated soil on construction sites and helps contain hazardous material during demolitions.

Baltimore County has put the job search on wheels with a $330,000 mobile career center focused on serving ex-convicts as they return to the community. A federal grant helped the county's Office of Workforce Development purchase and outfit the 29-foot-long Ford truck with six computer stations, telephones and fax machines. At least three jobs counselors will be available at all times as the truck makes its rounds to the Baltimore County Detention Center, the four locations of the Division of Parole and Probation and several areas with high crime rates.

The news this week that a graduate of a New York college is suing her school because she cannot find a job has generated a lot of water-cooler buzz. Trina Thompson alleges that Monroe College's career center did not help her with job placement. She's seeking $70,000 to compensate for her tuition and $2,000 for stress related to her job-search process. The college says it provides career support for all its students. But the lawsuit raises larger issues about the difficulty of finding a job during the worst economic times since the Great Depression and the role a college or a career center plays in a student's professional advancement.

As Baltimore's unemployment rate rose, many people headed to the library. Since the onset of the recession, attendance at the Enoch Pratt Free Library's career center classes has jumped 92 percent. For free, the Central Library on Cathedral Street in downtown Baltimore offers a range of classes that teach how to build a resume, network strategically, search and apply for jobs online, make job seekers' employment "recession-proof," get a federal job in 10 steps and develop basic interviewing skills.

Graduates are not just relying on their colleges to help them find that first job - now many want assistance from their alma maters when searching for second and third careers. In a move that's equal parts good will and smart business, more colleges and universities are expanding career counseling and services for former students. Alumni expect more from alma maters these days in exchange for their pricey investment, college career advisers and experts say. And because workers change jobs and careers with increased frequency, more alumni find themselves searching for employment assistance.

At these ticket counters at Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport, you can't get a reservation. But you can leave with something else: job prospects. Anne Arundel County officials will open a career center tomorrow designed as a clearinghouse to help job seekers find work at the airport. It joins a small but growing number of employment sites at airports around the country where economic development officials and nonprofit groups try to find workers for what essentially is a small city.

Today Job fair -- 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., Club Meade, 6600 Mapes Road on Fort Meade in Odenton. Enter at the Reese Road gate off Route 175. More than 3,000 jobs are available. Attendees must have photo identification. Bring resumes and be ready for an interview. Information: Jerome Duncan, 410-674-5340. Tomorrow Resume workshop -- 9:30 a.m., Northwest Career Center, Suite 302, Mondawmin Mall, 2401 Liberty Heights Ave., Baltimore. Information: 410- 523-1060. Saturday Tai Sophia Institute Open House -- for those interested in graduate studies in complementary medicine, 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., 7750 Montpelier Road in Laurel.