Charting a course: C4 offers Career Week to help students prep for workforce

HIGH school students from across the region recently received a crash course in career readiness.

C4 Columbus Area Career Connection held its first ever Career Week April 25 to April 29.

According to C4 business liaison and integration specialist Autumne Streeval, all C4 students in grades 9-12 participated in the event, with activities taking place at Columbus North and East. C4’s cosmetology program, which is housed at the McDowell Adult Education Center, also took part in Career Week.

The week centered on educating students about skills needed for future careers, as well as those necessary for job applications and interviews. Streeval said that C4 students in every class learned about interview skills, resume writing and work ethic skills, meaning that effectively every student and teacher in the program participated in the event.

Seniors also had the opportunity to do mock interviews and attend workshops on “employability skills.”

Topics included:“Getting into the Workforce” — Interviewing skills, resumes, networking, portfolios and elevator pitches (Hosted by Lindal, Toyota Material Handling and Ivy Tech)

“Workforce Expectations and Behavior” — Communication, organization, conflict resolution, collaboration and professionalism (Columbus Regional Health, Toyota Material Handling, MasterPower Transmission and Ivy Tech)

“Financial Literacy” — Understanding job offers, benefits, retirement accounts, credit, bank accounts and taxes (Old National Bank)

“College or No?” — Pros and cons of entering the workforce versus attending college, and what skills and credentials are needed for different careers (IUPUC and Dustin Carr)

Out of 513 C4 seniors, about 130 signed up for mock interviews, and 327 participated in at least one Career Week activity.

Guest speakers from different industries attended the event, presenting on topics such as career pathways, apprenticeship and careers in their fields. The hospital, in addition to sharing information about workforce readiness and healthcare careers, also brought a simulation lab to East so that health science students could get hands-on experience with training tools.

When asked what inspired C4 to hold Career Week, Streeval said that while the program already promotes career awareness and career exploration through different events and classes, school officials realized that there wasn’t as much of a focus on career preparation.

“It happened in some classes with resume writing or interview skills but it wasn’t across the board in all C4 classes,” she said.

A teacher committee was involved in planning and organizing the event. Additionally, three focus groups were held as part of the planning process — one for students, one for C4 graduates, and one for human resources. All three groups were asked about which skills were most needed for job preparation.

“The common response was that students needed to know how to interview, how to create a resume, demonstrate work ethic skills, and have a basic understanding of financial literacy,” said Streeval. “These are the ideas that we used to create the content and plan for Career Week.”

Various businesses, city officials, community volunteers and sponsors were also involved with putting on Career Week, said Streeval. Additionally, the East Indiana Area Health Education Center got involved by giving health career students a career interest survey and presenting information on a number of different jobs.

C4 plans to hold Career Week again next year.

“Career prep is important because it is all about giving the students the skills and tools they need to get into the workforce,” she said.