As we continue on our mission to be the “provider of choice” for those in job search, we closed 2009 being able to offer a diverse range of workshop topics from local experts. Our Guest Speaker Workshop Series continues to provide critical learnings to our members on such topics as social media and 50+ job search.

In September, RochesterWorks! brought the world of Social Media to our members with Greg Taylor providing two workshops on LinkedIn, one for the basic novice and one for the more advanced job seeker.  They were “sell outs” and the workshop continues to be one of our most popular offerings.  We realize this is a much-needed skills set for our members.  Greg Taylor will again offer LinkedIn 100 for those just getting started with this tool in 2010 and we are starting to incorporate a mini overview of LinkedIn in some of our Professional workshops.
 
We continued on this topic in October with Bill “Skeeter” Harris, who offered a broad overview of Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. This was another workshop that was filled to capacity.  
 
Some of our standard presentations continued:  Introduction to Entrepreneurship, Jump Start your Start Up and Introduction to Federal Jobs. These topics offer another opportunity for our members and continue to be requested by our members.
 
Basic Skills Boot Camp for Computers is still going strong and has settled into a four-day workshop with each session running three hours.  We definitely see the need for this workshop with our members and it continues to fill up.
 
In November, Financial Wellness by Mike Chabalik provided much needed information during a time of year when people become even more stressed about finances.  We also brought Beth Sears in to do a workshop on Stress Management.  
 
Our “hot topic” continues to be Rita Carey and her popular 50+ Series.  With our library collaboration with the Monroe County Libraries, Rita was able to present on-site and at local libraries.  We have already had requests and confirmed her for 2010.
 
The “highlight’ of the quarter was the Career Conference where 24 workshops were offered with more than 14 different presenters!  The workshops received rave reviews and gave us an opportunity to pilot new topics with our members to see what would fit their needs.  
 
RochesterWorks! continues to look at ways to bring valuable tools and education that will help our members achieve success in their job search.  Our collaboration with local experts and our Community Outreach program to present workshops at area libraries is a vibrant example of this commitment to our members and community at large.
 

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