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On the Job Training Helps One Seeker Find Work

Special Care Systems LLC and RochesterWorks! teamed up to provide Jennifer Kopicki the opportunity to gain technical skills through an on-the-job training program. Kopicki came to RochesterWorks! in December 2007 after nearly five months of unemployment. She thought her skills and abilities were not marketable and that was her biggest fear in launching a job search.

 “The on-the-job training provided me with an opportunity that I might not otherwise have had,” says Kopicki. “I was amazed when I realized the abundance of resources that are in place in the Rochester area to help job seekers and small businesses.”

Through RochesterWorks! she learned how to market herself more effectively and later gain employment. She attended many of the RochesterWorks! professional series workshops and became a dedicated Job Network member, says Kathy Ziegler, Career Services Advisor - Job Search Team Leader at RochesterWorks!

To further identify her employability and skills, she took the WorkKeys Career Readiness Credential assessments at RochesterWorks!

“I was excited to take the exam. I wanted to find out what areas I could work on improving,” Kopicki says. 

Not only did Kopicki complete the assessments, she successfully ranked at the gold level, the highest level possible. This gave her confidence and she set out to network her way into a job, Ziegler says.

“Networking was a huge value to me. It really proved the hidden job market is the most lucrative,” Kopicki says.

Through the process she found Webster-based Special Care Systems was looking to hire. She had many of the skills the healthcare communications integrator was looking for but lacked the technical knowledge.

That is when Special Care Systems and RochesterWorks! worked together to provide on-the-job training. Today Kopicki is a Engineered System Sales Representative.  

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