Today’s job market is tough for everyone, but when someone has never held a job or been unemployed for an extended period, it can be especially difficult. These individuals need to learn not just how to hold a job, but they need to learn the soft skills that will help them succeed once they are hired.
They also might need help with their self-esteem. People who have never had a job before can feel uncomfortable in their new role, and they might have to learn some new skills. That’s why it’s so important that free training opportunities are offered at the community level to help those who need them.
Here are a few training opportunities that should be offered in the community so that people can be eased into the process of entering the workforce:
Resume Writing Workshops
The first step in filing a job application is sending out a resume and cover letter. However, this can be intimidating if you’ve never done it before, even if you have good writing skills. Multiple resume writing workshops should be offered in the community to teach people how to write an effective resume and cover letter.
This will help individuals apply for jobs that they might not have considered before. And this could be a good chance for members of the community who work in human resources to give back by offering assistance during the training or reviewing resumes.
Job Interviewing Skills Training
Once people have their resumes, it’s time to help them land job interviews. But for people who have never done one, it could be extremely anxiety-inducing because they don’t know what to expect. This is where job interviewing skills training comes in handy.
By offering interview tips and practice questions, those who have been unemployed or have had a hard time finding a job will get an idea of the types of questions that could be asked. And they’ll know how they should conduct themselves during an interview if they want to make a good impression.
Employment Counseling
After much preparation, job seekers will need to learn how to handle the actual job search. That’s why employment counseling should be offered as an after-training service to those who need extra help. Plus, it could be a chance for professionals who work in recruitment services, such as waterstonehc.com, to lend a hand to their community.
The counseling itself could be as simple as a quick checklist of what to do and what not to do during the job search. That way, those who have been unemployed for a while will have an easy-to-follow guide that can help them land their dream job.
Additionally, those who volunteer to be counselors can help motivate job seekers throughout their job-hunting process. This is because the search can be demotivating, particularly after many rejections. But an experienced counselor can offer advice and different perspectives to those who are looking for jobs.
Job Fairs and Networking Events
Last but not least, job fairs and networking events are important for individual success. For one thing, people who have an interview with a company might receive on-the-job training from a staff member there. But another thing is that they might meet the right person who will hire them, whether they see each other at a job fair or networking event.
The important thing is to get more people in the community involved, whether they are employers or job seekers. They will have a chance to network while simultaneously looking to get hired during the job fair, which can lead to more opportunities for those who never held a job before.
Why should these be done at the community level?
The community-based free training programs will not only be designed to help people who have been unemployed for an extended period, but they also target those who have never held a job before. This will be especially helpful in navigating the competitive job market today.
Through such an initiative, the preexisting conditions that hindered marginalized members of the community from getting employed will be addressed, and eventually, solved. This way, the unemployment rates will gradually decrease.
And once that happens, there will be less poverty in the community because more people will be able to support themselves and their families. This will contribute to the overall level of happiness in the community, which is something everyone wants.
That’s why it’s vital to offer free training programs in the community. They can provide knowledge and skills that people need to land their dream jobs, as well as build their confidence. That way, the community as a whole will benefit from these programs and grow stronger than ever before.