12
| Sunday, April 24, 2016 1 Career RESOURCE Your guide to top professions, community support and valuable resources Published by the Ocala Star-Banner MARION COUNTY SUNDAY, APRIL 24, 2016

OSB Spring edition Career Resource

Embed Size (px)

DESCRIPTION

Official Publication of the Ocala StarBanner and Ocala.com

Citation preview

Page 1: OSB Spring edition Career Resource

| Sunday, April 24, 2016 1

CareerRESOURCEYour guide to top professions, community support and valuable resources

Published by the Ocala Star-Banner

MARION COUNTY ■ SUNDAY, APRIL 24, 2016

Page 2: OSB Spring edition Career Resource

2 Sunday, April 24, 2016 |

Hospice patient Velma Ronaldo gets her vitals checked by her hospice nurse, Iris Melendez, earlier this year. Nursing is one of the occupations in highest demand in Marion County.

ALAN YOUNGBLOOD / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

By Jim Ross Managing editor

If you are a registered nurse, a truck driver, a retail expert or a restaurant supervisor, then consider yourself lucky: Employers want you.

In Marion, Citrus and Levy counties combined there were 4,252 online job ads in February, the latest month for which statistics were available.

The top advertised occupa-tions were registered nurse (553 online ads), truck driver (171), retail expert (108) and restaurant supervisor (87), according to a gauge created by The Conference Board, a global, independent business membership and research association.

That might sound like a lot. But the number of online occupation ads is actually down 25.8 percent compared with February 2015, The Con-ference Board reports.

For the top 15 advertised occupations in February there were 19 percent fewer ads than during the same month a year ago.

The top four occupations combined had 177 fewer ads than in February 2015 — a 16 percent drop.

Only two of the top 15 advertised occupations — critical care nurses and speech-language pathologists — had more ads in February than during the same month in 2015.

This year-over-year change could mean there are fewer jobs. But there are other explanations.

One is that more people already are employed and

there are fewer jobs to fill. The unemployment rate in Citrus, Levy and Marion counties combined was 5.9 percent in February — 1.1 percentage points lower than a year ago. From a labor force of 193,991 there were 11,391 unemployed and 182,600 with jobs. That’s 2,235 fewer unemployed and 2,043 more employed than a year ago.

“What we’re seeing across the region is an increase in employment and drop in the number of those without jobs, and we’re also experiencing growth in our labor force. Our labor market basically leveled out and then some, with gains making up for the seasonal dip in January,” said Rusty Skinner, CEO of CareerSource Citrus Levy Marion, in pre-pared remarks.

Closer to home, in Marion County, the unemployment rate in February was 5.7 percent — down 1 percentage point from a year earlier. Year over year there were 1,400

more jobs, led by sectors such as manufacturing (400 jobs), education and health services (400) and leisure and hospitality (300.)

Another explanation is that companies are finding different, more refined ways to recruit talent. Kevin Sheilley, CEO of the Ocala/Marion County Chamber & Economic Partnership (CEP), said employers report that online ads can bring in big numbers of applicants — but many of those applicants don’t fit the bill.

Recently a mechanical engineer touched based with Sheilley and said he wanted to return to the Ocala area. As a courtesy, Sheilley passed the man’s information to four local CEOs — all of whom fired back emails within five min-utes expressing interest.

“It’s all about skills,” Sheil-ley said. Companies have needs and are hiring — if they can find the right candidates.

One other point of interest from the arena of labor market statistics:

The 2016-17 Regional Demands Occupation List for Citrus, Levy and Marion counties shows that the brick mason/block mason occupa-tion code will have the highest percentage growth (5.68) in terms of number of openings. Following that are diagnostic medical sonographers (4.86 percent more openings), physician assistant (4.66) and physical therapist assistant (3.96.)  

—Contact Jim Ross at 671-6412 or [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @jimrossOSB

Top 10 direct employers by ads in FebruaryEmployer Number of online ads*

Community Health Systems...437HCA ........................................... 232Health One ............................... 106Pizza Hut .................................... 58InSearch Medical ...................... 30Brookdale Senior Living ........... 30R&L Carriers .............................. 29The Centers ............................... 28City of Ocala .............................. 26Lowe’s ........................................ 25

* IN FEBRUARY 2016SOURCE: The Conference Board, Help Wanted OnLine; prepared by the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity, Bureau of Labor Market Statistics

HOT JOBS

Top occupations: nursing, driving, selling

What a diff erence a year makesOne way to gauge the local job scene is to check online job

ads. Who’s hiring? For what positions? To help organize such a review The Conference Board has built

a program called HelpWanted Online. Experts examine job boards that cover each metro area and county. “Since the online ads are a direct indication of hiring intent by employers, the ads serve as a measure of labor demand,” The Conference Board says.

This list shows the top 15 advertised occupations for Marion, Citrus and Levy counties combined in February. It shows that, in most cases, there were fewer online ads this year compared with the same month last year. This could mean there are fewer jobs; more likely, it shows that more jobs have been fi lled and there are fewer openings. Online ads Online ads Job Feb. ‘16 Feb.’15 % change

Registered nurse 553 575 -3.8

Heavy and tractor-trailer truck driver 171 287 -40.4

Retail sales 108 143 -24.5

First-line supervisors of food prep and serving workers 87 91 -4.4

Physical therapist 85 85 0

Medical and health services managers 79 96 -17.7

Critical care nurses 79 56 41.1

Occupational therapists 78 110 -29.1

First-line supervisors of retail sales workers 70 137 -48.9

Nursing assistants 68 87 -21.8

Speech language pathologists 63 53 18.9

Licensed practical nurses and licensed vocational nurses 55 66 -16.7

Customer service reps 53 123 -56.9

Combined food prep and serving workers (includes fast food) 52 56 -7.1

Landscaping and groundskeeping workers 50 63 -20.6

TOTAL OF ALL JOBS (not just top 15) 4,252 5,728 -25.8

SOURCE: The Conference Board, Help Wanted OnLine; prepared by the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity, Bureau of Labor Market Statistics

Page 3: OSB Spring edition Career Resource

| Sunday, April 24, 2016 3

By Alexia Elejalde-RuizChicago Tribune

The dreaded resume gap. After a career break — be it to raise a child, care for an elderly parent or jet around the world — those years without relevant work experi-ence can stretch like a moat outside the hiring manager’s door.

The good news, espe-cially for women, who make up the majority of career breakers, is that many companies have gaps of their own. As they grapple with talent shortages and gender imbalances, some are accommodating appli-cants’ resume gaps with “returnships” — usu-ally paid internships for returning professionals to get them up to speed and back in the swing of the working world, with the opportunity to get hired at the end.

A new initiative in the STEM (science, technology, engineer-ing and math) field drew seven major companies to commit to launching pilot re-entry programs this year.

IBM, GM and Booz Allen Hamilton have announced their inau-gural programs, and Intel, Johnson Controls, Cummins and Caterpil-lar are expected to roll theirs out within the next couple of months.

“This is really a win-win,” said Silvia Karlsson, vehicle sys-tems engineer at GM, whose 12-week Take 2 re-entry program begins

this month. “You get to try us out, and we get to try you out and see how we both fit, in a bit of a less scary situation.”

There’s high demand. GM received over 300 applications for 10 slots, Karlsson said. The com-pany hopes to hire all 10 of its interns, whose career breaks ranged from four to 21 years, into permanent posi-tions, she said.

Returnships have gained steam in other industries as a way to help career breakers get a foot back in the door at a time when companies competing for high-skill talent place a greater emphasis on employees’ family priorities.

Goldman Sachs was a pioneer when it launched

its (trademarked) Returnship program for men and women in 2008, and other finan-cial services firms from Morgan Stanley to Credit Suisse debuted their own a couple of years ago.

More than half of the participants who have completed Credit Suisse’s 11-week Real Returns program secured a permanent job at the company, said Belinda Jettar, co-manager of the program. The paid internship includes a week of training boot camp to refresh techni-cal and soft skills, an ongoing speaker series and networking across divisions to encourage exploration of profes-sional options.

Roughly 2.6 million educated mothers of prime working age are not in the labor force, said Carol Fishman Cohen, CEO of iRe-launch, which provides tools and resources for career relaunchers and hosts an annual Return to Work conference.

Though Cohen said she is seeing an increas-ing number of men who have taken breaks for child care interested in her re-entry services, and both genders coming back after taking care of elderly parents, the bulk of career relaunchers are still women who stepped out to raise their kids.

Cohen teamed up with the Society of Women Engineers to create the STEM Re-Entry Task Force that recruited the seven companies to

launch pilot programs. The hope is for STEM interns who land jobs to present at SWE’s October conference in Philadelphia to help recruit relaunchers for the next class.

The notion that a professional with years of experience would have to work at docked pay and repay her dues through an internship can feel frustrating. But Cohen said returnships are resume-worthy experiences that enhance a candidate while making the hire less risky for employers.

When Hilary Rosen-berg, 44, left her job as an assistant business

manager at Unilever after she had her first child in 2001, she didn’t know she would have three kids and that it would be eight years before she would start looking for work again.

She said she net-worked for a year but felt people didn’t take her seriously. Her time spent volunteering at her kids’ schools was received as “fluff.”

“What I heard over and over again was that I didn’t have any relevant experience,” she said. “Nobody cared what I did 12, 14 years ago, even if it was interesting.”

Through a friend of a friend, Rosenberg

met the owner of a public relations firm and arranged to work unpaid two days a week, one at home and one at the office, managing social media accounts for clients. She did that for 10 months — “eating humble pie every single week” — before she started looking for a full-time job again, armed with expertise in the hottest marketing trend.

Rosenberg noticed that hiring managers paid attention to her self-driven internship as a sign that she was serious. It took time, but in 2014 she got a job as a proj-ect coordinator at Dairy Management .

RESUME GAP

‘Returnships’ could help career breakers

Hilary Rosenberg, project coordinator for the American Dairy Association, poses for a portrait at her office on Feb. 25, 2016 in Rosemont, Ill. Rosenberg was out of the work force for 12 years raising her children . Taking an unpaid internship helped her relaunch her career. STACEY WESCOTT/

CHICAGO TRIBUNE /TNS

Business Driven. Talent Focused.

careersourceclm.comAn equal opportunity program/employer. Auxiliary aids/services available upon request to persons with disabilities. For accommodations, call 800-434-5627, ext. 7878.

352.873.7955 | 800.746.9950

Connecting employers with qualified, skilled talent and jobseekers with employment and career developoment opportunties.Contact us to learn about fee-free solutions that work for you.

Page 4: OSB Spring edition Career Resource

Where is “the offi ce?” Wherever there’s room to park. The CareerSource Citrus Levy Marion Mobile Resource Unit can set up shop just about anywhere.

4 Sunday, April 24, 2016 |

Learn moreTo learn more about state personal income in 2015, check out the news release and accompanying tables at http://bea.gov/newsreleases/regional/spi/SQPI_NewsRelease.htm

An increase in construction wages helped boost Florida’s personal income 5.2 percent in 2015. Here, Timothy Bostick uses a saw to cut concrete block for block layers with LL&J Masonry for a new Dunkin’ Donuts near the Shops at Foxwood off U.S. 27 west of Ocala. DOUG ENGLE/OCALA STAR-BANNER 2016

N ationwide, personal income in 2015 was 4.4 percent greater than it was in 2014. In Florida,

the year-over-year increase was even better: 5.2 percent, according to the U.S. Commerce Department’s Bureau of Economic Analysis.

Only Georgia, Nevada, Utah, Oregon and California had higher percentage increases than Florida.

Personal income is the income received by all persons from all sources. In other words, it is the sum of net earnings by place of residence, property income and personal current transfer receipts (like Social Security.) Personal

income is measured before the deduction of personal income taxes and other personal taxes.

Nationwide, per capita personal income was $47,669 in 2015. In Florida, it was $44,101. 

In breaking down the 5.2 percent growth, the Commerce Department gave much credit to the strength of wages. Total earnings grew 5.76 percent in Florida, including a 12.54 percent increase in the construction sector, 9.83 percent in utilities, and 8.58 percent in administrative and waste management services.

—Staff report 

Kevin Harrison sits at a computer terminal as he describes how a job seeker would search for a job in the Career Source Citrus Levy Marion Mobile Resource Unit. On this day in late March the unit was parked

next to the Broadway Community Outreach Center on West Silver Springs Boulevard in Ocala. Harrison drives the unit to different locations in Marion, Citrus and Levy counties to bring job-skill infrastructure (computers, etc.) to places where people might not otherwise have access.

Help on the goCareerSource Citrus Levy Marion has mobile units that

travel throughout the agency’s three-county service area. They go to neighborhoods to help people who are looking for work but cannot arrange transportation to get to a Career-Source offi ce. They go to off-site job fairs so computers and other resources are readily available. They can be used by employers for small-batch training or interviews.

For a schedule of where the mobile units are sched-uled to be, check http://www.careersourceclm.com/calendar-of-events/

The CareerSource Citrus Levy Marion Mobile Resource Unit on West Silver Springs Boulevard in Ocala.

STAR-BANNER PHOTOS/

BRUCE ACKERMAN

5.2% increase from 2014 to ’15, total earnings grew 5.76%

Florida on the risePERSONAL INCOME

Page 5: OSB Spring edition Career Resource

By Mary Ellen Slayter Monster.com

The World Economic Forum recently reported that humanity would be out 7 million jobs by 2020 due to automation, with admin and office jobs taking the brunt of the blow. But, the study also reports 2 million jobs will be created through technological advances.

Already technology has created plenty of jobs. Titles like app devel-oper, social media director and Uber driver are among the ones that didn’t exist a decade ago. And the work land-scape will continue to evolve, bringing us positions in the next two decades that we can barely imagine now.

To stay competitive, you’ll want to focus your energy on the high-touch, strategic aspect of your job; robots can do a lot, but they can’t (yet) brain-storm, motivate or inspire people.

While it’s impossible to say exactly what the future will hold, these jobs could very likely exist in the future.

Chief productivity offi cer Driving effi ciencies will be vital at indi-

vidual, depart mental and organizational levels, and the offi cer-level position will be important at companies of all sizes, says Raj Narayanaswamy, co-founder and co-CEO at Replicon, a company that specializes in cloud-based timesheet management in Calgary, Canada.

Want this job in the future? Project

managers with data analytics and leader-ship skills will be best prepared.

Excess capacity broker As part of that push for productivity,

organizations may look for ways to monetize more idle assets, such as renting out space or machinery they own, says author and futurist Julie Austin. An excess capacity broker might analyze an organization and identify assets that could be used, then fi nd other organizations willing to pay for them.

Want this job? You’ll probably need experi ence in logistics or supply chain management.

End-of-life coach With baby boomers approach ing

the end of their lives in the next 10 to 20 years, there’s likely to be a greater emphasis on how people want to spend their last days, says Jim Lebret, assistant professor of medicine and clinical innova-tion at NYU Medical Center and director of code team leaders at Bellevue Hospital in New York City. “Right now, there’s a lot of excessive treatment at the end of someone’s life,” Lebret says. “In the next few years, there will be a massive shift

toward people wanting to add more life to their days, instead of days to their life.”

For this job, you will need experience as a hospice employee or home health nurse.

Drone manager Over the next 10 to 20 years, drones will

lose their novelty and become ubiquitous, says Mick Mort lock, senior futurist and co-founder of Imaginexxus LLC, a Lake Oswego, Oregon, company that creates products and services based on the analy-sis and research of imagination. Experts will need to set and enforce standards for acquiring and maintaining an organiza-tion’s fl eet of drones.

Want this job? You’ll probably need experience as a fl eet manager.

Autonomous transportation specialist

If our future is one that includes self-driving cars, drones and boards that actually hover, cities and towns are going to need humans to monitor all this neo-transit. People will need to integrate these autonomous vehicles into current systems, and then monitor results.

Want this job? Start getting experience as a city planner or a traffi c specialist.

| Sunday, April 24, 2016 5

5 COOL JOBS OF THE NEAR

HVAC Residential Rough Installer• Full time position

• Able to lift 40+ lbs

• Work in attics & on ladders

• Must have own hand tools

• Safety conscious / Jobsite cleanliness

• Good driving record & Valid FL DL

• Background check performed

• Will train

• Good communication skills

• Team player

HVAC Residential Trim Installer• Full time position

• Able to lift 40+ lbs

• Work in attics & on ladders

• Must have own hand tools

• Safety conscious / Jobsite cleanliness

• Good driving record & Valid FL DL

• Background check performed

• Will train

• Good communication skills

• Team player

Service & Maintenance Technician• Full time position

• Able to lift 40+ lbs

• Must have own hand tools

• EPA Certified

• Company vehicle to drive home

• Good driving record & Valid FL DL

• Background check performed

• 1-2 years Experience Residential or

Light Commercial

• Work on-call rotation nights and weekends

• Need some computer skills

Immediate Job openings available apply in person 9985 N US HWY 301 , WildwoodMon – Fri 8am – 4:30pm or Online at www.sunkoolac.com or call (352)622-1067 to schedule an interview.

www.SunKoolAC.com License#CAC035590

Page 6: OSB Spring edition Career Resource

6 Sunday, April 24, 2016 |

By Fred HiersStaff writer

D uring the recession, local busi-nesses were struggling in difficult economic waters.

Marion County U-Haul store man-agers complained of trying to get their trucks returned; the local economy was so bad, people were only renting them for one-way trips out of Florida. Former white-collar workers were lining up to apply at discount stores. Successful home builders were filing for bankruptcy and living with their in-laws.

Marion’s unemployment rate peaked in January 2010 at 14.4 per-cent. At the time, the rate was 9.7 percent nationally and 11.5 percent in Florida. The county was in the middle of a four-year stretch of double digit unemployment. That was in stark contrast to five years before, when unemployment was just 3.1 percent.

As unsure as businesses were about their future, so were the agencies that help people find jobs. People needed new skills and training. New relation-ships had to be forged between the few businesses that were hiring and the agencies that could point them to the workers that they wanted.

Agencies such as CareerSource Citrus Levy Marion, the non-profit that serves this region, have emerged from the other side of the recession with some learned lessons.

CareerSource now focuses on getting people prepared to work in fields such as healthcare; informa-tion technologies, such as computer programing ;and manufacturing and logistics, said CEO Rusty Skinner.

Along with that focus, Skinner said, his agency also is putting a lot of effort toward building relationships with industry groups. That way, Career-Source can better understand precisely what employers need and the skills they want to find in their employees.

In 2007 and 2008, when businesses were shedding employees at alarming rates, Skinner said one of the sad tasks left for CareerSource was to help in the downsizing process by meeting with

the displaced workers.Now, CareerSource works to help

the unemployed develop skills that they’ll need in the new hiring sectors rather than in industries that hire far fewer workers.

CareerSource also wants to meet with high school students. What jobs do they want:? What jobs are available in the area? How can they get the skills they need?

Factory jobs are changing, too, and students need to understand those workplaces are more technologically sophisticated then they were even a few years ago, Skinner said.

“It’s a modern manufacturing envi-ronment,” he said.

The aim is to create “talent streams” of workers to meet employer demand, he said.

Much of those new jobs are tech-nology driven, often involving modernized machinery used to make precisely made products, he said. An example in the healthcare industry is medical record storage; it continues to become more complex and reliant on computers and workers familiar with the relevant computer programs.

But it’s also sometimes difficult to make people understand that the jobs that their parents had are no longer needed and the workplace has changed since the recession.

CareerSource is also working with local businesses to create short videos for young people about what products the businesses make or services they offer in case they are interested in get-ting job there.

“These were projects we weren’t doing (during the recession) when the economy wasn’t supporting a long-term talent need,” Skinner said.

For those already working but also looking for better, CareerSource is also considering extending its hours into the evening so working people could

use the agency’s resources.In fiscal 2009-2010, CareerSource

staff saw 117,303 people come through its doors, twice the number it did a few years before then.

Other job placement centers, like Wal-Staf Personnel, with offices in Ocala, Gainesville and Lake City, say the employment landscape is changed and in many ways it’s more difficult to find full-time work.

Wal-Staf's vice president and chief operating officer, Connie Baker, said employers are again asking for work-ers, “but we’re seeing more part-time (employer requests) than we ever saw before.”

The ones fired first during the reces-sion — the front-line office workers, receptionists, assistants, and admin-istration employees — are now being hired again, Baker said.

And some former clients who are working full time now are now coming back looking for better jobs, she said.

Although people are finding work again, wages are not keeping up with the level of skills employers want from workers, Baker said.

“The firms (wanting to hire) haven’t come to terms with that (the need for higher salaries),” Baker said.” Many of the companies are set in their ways. They’re not recognizing what workers are asking for or needing (financially).”

It’s often cheaper for employers to hire part time. As a result, her place-ment company is often placing clients in multiple part-time jobs at the same time.

The company has about employee 1,000 clients.

Baker said the key to employment is still to be flexible. “Our job is to get their foot through the door…and introduce them to the employers,” she said.

Hopefully, they’ll become per-manent employees, climb the latter to become a manager, and then in turn higher more people, Baker said. “That’s always very nice to see,” she said.

—Reach Fred Hiers at [email protected] and 352-867-4157.

Need help getting a job?+ Contact CareerSource Citrus Levy Marion at http://new.clmworkforce.com/ or call 1-800-434-5627

These agencies connect people with jobsJesus Guerra and Kristy Varrin search for jobs on computers at CareerSource Citrus Levy Marion’s office on Northeast 14th Street in Ocala.

STAR-BANNER PHOTO/BRUCE ACKERMAN

Michael Dougherty, a customer service techni-cian, left, helps Renaldo Montgomery search for a job on one of the computer terminals at CareerSource Citrus Levy Marion’s office on Northeast 14th Street in Ocala.

EMPLOYMENT HELP

Page 7: OSB Spring edition Career Resource

| Sunday, April 24, 2016 7

By Fred HiersStaff writer

D uring the recession there were a few employment oases in Marion County — and people flocked to

them.Taylor College in Belleview was one

such place. The college, housed in a single building at 5190 SE 125th St., had carved out a niche for itself by offering healthcare certificate pro-grams and one- and two-year nursing degree programs.

Before the recession, the college had about 150 students. By 2010 that jumped to 300. The school now has 43 staffers and faculty members.

Nursing classes were full, and just as many students came to the college to become certified nursing assistants or home health aides or phlebotomists as quickly as they could to find work, said Donna Peirson, Taylor College’s academic assistant.

Many of those students coming to change careers were laid-off clerical workers, sales people and even one truck driver, Peirson recalled.

“They said, ‘I need to get to work fast,’” Peirson said. “We had a lot of displaced workers.”

The college learned a lot from those days, and now it is adapting to the post-recession era. Many of those students who first came during the downturn now want to continue in the healthcare field.

The college, which has about 200 students now, offers new “bridg-ing programs” that allow students to advance in their careers.

As the economy improved, those who entered the medical field with one- and two-year degrees or certi-fications started coming back. They wanted to find ways to get jobs with more regular hours, secure promo-tions, and earn more money.

To help them the college now offers programs that allow paramedics to continue their educations to become associate degree registered nurses, and to allow licensed practical nurses to become associate degree RNs.

In addition, seeing that hospitals and other healthcare providers want more four-year degree RNs, Peirson said Taylor is working to offer that program within a couple of years.

“You find that people who got into

the (healthcare) field really like it,” she said.

Expanding the college’s services to four-year degrees is part of the natural progression, Peirson said.

Students are already coming to

the school for certification programs and two-year degrees, said the col-lege’s financial aid director, Deborah Lambcke. They’re already familiar with the staff and facility. So, why not offer what they want to further their careers?

Although working in the health-care field is as much a calling as it is a job, healthcare workers quickly learn there’s always a job waiting for them, said the college’s director of nursing, Natasha Brooks.

Some of those who learned that the best were those who lost jobs during the recession, went into the medical field, and found they liked the work, Brooks said.

Even during a recession or economic downturn, people still get sick and need the help of healthcare providers such as nurses, physical therapy assis-tants and EKG technicians, she said.

The work is just as stable regardless of the economy, she said.

Meanwhile, the population is getting older and needs ever higher levels of healthcare, Brooks said.

But the best thing about working in the medical field is the personal satisfaction from knowing you helped a patient or their family through a dif-ficult time, Peirson said.

The college helps students apply for government financial loans and the college offers some scholarships, Lambcke said. In addition, many employers offer tuition reimburse-ments that make the educations possible.

Meanwhile, Peirson said the college will not diverge into other fields, but rather stay in the medical field.

“What we have running now, we want to be the best we can be,” she said. “You want to strive for perfection.”

—Reach Fred Hiers at [email protected] and 867-4157.

TAYLOR COLLEGE

Helping students find or improve careersLearn morewww.taylorcollege.edu

Taylor College Director of Nursing Natasha Brooks, left, and Academic Assistant Donna Peirson demonstrate Annie, a working mannequin that can birth a baby, at the Taylor campus in Belleview. Taylor College has found a niche for itself: classes for students who want to work in the growing healthcare industry. DOUG ENGLE PHOTOS/OCALA STAR-BANNER

Natasha Brooks, left and Donna Peirson hold “baby doe” after demonstrating how Annie, a working mannequin, can birth a baby normal or breach. Students at Taylor College use this equipment in health classes.

Page 8: OSB Spring edition Career Resource

8 Sunday, April 24, 2016 |

If you are one of the thousands of people in Marion County who is looking for a job, it's time to get ready. There are several job fairs coming up that can help you.

Marion County Public SchoolsAre you a teacher? The district is holding its annual job fair on Friday. Applicants must be certifi ed or eligible for certifi cation by Florida’s Depart-ment of Education. Bring your resume and relevant employment information, including a copy of your Florida Depart-ment of Education certifi cation and proof you have passed the subject area exam if certifi cation is in social sciences, elementary education, Pre-K/Primary, art or music. School principals, with authority to hire on the spot, will be at the fair. Teachers at all grade levels are sought, with special need for K-5 and ESE teachers and school counselors.Time and date: 4 to 8 p.m. Friday, April 29 in the Ewers Center at the College of Central Florida, 3001 SW College Road,

Ocala.Information: 671-7787 or www.marionschools.net.

Hire A Grad This fair is open to all recent degree, certifi cate and technical graduates from the College of Central Florida and other post-secondary programs in Marion, Citrus and Levy counties. Many employ-ers will be there. The sponsors are CF and CareerSource CLM. No charge to attend; professional dress required.Time and date: 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. May 18Place: College of Central Florida Webber Center, 3001 SW College Road, OcalaInformation: 873-5855 or [email protected]+ Citrus County Spring Job Fair: Interested in a job in Citrus? This fair is for you.Time and date: 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. May 24Place: College of Central Florida Citrus Campus, 3800 S. Lecanto Highway, LecantoInformation: 1-800-434-JOBS, ext. 3206

By Joe Callahan | Staff writer

A fter more than a decade of fundraising and state funding vetoes, the College of Central

Florida has finally received the final $7.3 million needed to build its $18 million Jack Wilkinson Levy Campus. CF President Jim Henningsen said now that the remaining funding survived in March, the new campus should open in fall 2017.

“A lot has to get done and it will be a tight timeline,” he said.

For more than a decade, officials have told state lawmakers the new campus is critical for Levy, one of the poorest counties in the state and home to about 40,000 residents. The new center also will help residents in west-ern Marion County. CF serves Marion, Citrus and Levy counties.

The Levy center has been CF’s top funding priority for 11 years. Despite

the need, there has been a constant battle with state lawmakers to get funding approved. On four occasions in a five-year span, lawmakers agreed to fund the project. Each time it was vetoed — twice by former Gov. Charlie Christ, in 2009 and 2010, and then by Gov. Rick Scott in 2011 and 2013. In 2012, the project didn’t make the state funding list at all.

Things started looking up in 2014. That was when the state finally approved the first phase of funding: $4.3 million to launch infrastructure. Henningsen said he expected state lawmakers to automatically budget the balance, in this case about $9.3 million, during the 2015 legislative session. For that reason, Henningsen announced the campus would open in August 2016.

However, lawmakers only gave CF Members of the College of Central Florida’s board of trustees throw the first shovels of sand during the ground breaking ceremony for the CF Jack Wilkinson Levy Campus in Trenton, near Fanning Springs in December 2015. The new center is expected to open in August 2017. DOUG ENGLE/OCALA STAR-BANNER

LEVY/WEST MARION

New Central Florida center on the way

Several job fairs upcoming

SEE NEW CENTER, 9

SEE JOB FAIRS, 9

NOWHIRING!ManyPositionsAvailable!

Apply online at sitel.comor visit us in person!

1417 N Magnolia Ave,Ocala, FL 34475

Page 9: OSB Spring edition Career Resource

| Sunday, April 24, 2016 9

By Caroline Zaayer KaufmanMonster.com

If you’re unsure where you want your career to be in five years, you’re not alone. Not planning for the next half decade doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll fail at career-ing, said Cheryl Palmer, owner of Call to Career, a career coaching business based in Washington, D.C. “But it may very well mean that you will drift and allow other people to set your direction.”

Use these steps to chart a proper five-year career course:

1. Think about what exactly you want to change

Your career goals could could include changes in titles, job responsi-bilities, pay or even locations. The first step is figuring out what exactly you want to change.

For example, maybe you’re a non-manager and you want to be ready

to manage a team of 10 in five years. Maybe you’re a director and you want to become a vice president. Maybe you just want to add some new skills to your portfolio, or take home an indus-try award you’ve had your eye on.

“Specificity is crucial in this step,” said Myles Miller, founder of LeadUp.biz, a Harrisburg, Pennsylvania-based professional training and develop-ment company for businesses. “Too broad of strokes will almost assure the unlikelihood of it actually happening.

“But also set yourself up for suc-cess by keeping the number of changes you’re looking to make to manage-able,” said Miller. “Three to five is realistic.”

2. Learn what it will take to get there

The best directional help can come from those who are already at the point in their careers where you’d like to be. Try to find people in your network whom you can use as role models. Ask them out for coffee and

make them tell you how they got from where you are now to where they are now. Ask them what they’d do if they were you.

Don’t know anyone who has your dream role? See if your industry group or employer has a formal mentoring program to partner you with someone who can provide you with a roadmap.

Be aware, said Palmer, that to climbing to your self-imposed new heights might require you to put in some work outside of work.

“Perhaps it’s more education, intense networking or expanding your skill set,” she said.

3. Create a manageable timelineTake a piece of paper and write the

number “60” somewhere at the top. Now, draw a line down the center. On the left side, list all the goals you want to hit in chronological order. (Your last goal should be the one you’ve set for yourself five years from now). On the right side, write down the number of months you think it will take to reach

the goal you’ve listed on the left.Every time you do this for one of

your goals, subtract that number from the number 60 at the top. Your right column must add up to 60 — the number of months in five years.

“Taking the time to actually write out your end goal as well as the steps that you need to take to get there improves the likelihood that you will achieve your goal,” Palmer said.

4. Hold yourself accountableIf you’re serious about

accomplishing your goals, an accountability partner can help keep you on track, Palmer said: “Find someone, either a friend or career coach, who you can share your goals with. Then check in with that person periodically throughout the year so that you can update the person on the progress that you have made.”

Keep your written goals timeline near so you can regularly check on yourself and know if and when you need to make adjustments.

CAREER STRATEGY

Chart course to land your dream job in 5 years

$2 million last spring. That stalled the project for a year until the remaining $7.3 million was approved this year.

The site is at 15390 NW U.S. 19 in Chiefland and stretches over 40 acres.

CF currently offers classes and full student services at the Save-A-Lot store-front plaza in Chiefland. CF spokeswoman Lois Brauckmuller said classes have been at capacity for several years as CF enrollment in Levy County has increased.

In 2014-2015, CF served more than 1,200 credit and noncredit students. In 2012, CF began offering Applied Weld-ing Technologies in existing buildings at the Levy property.

That store-front facility is only 13,000 square feet and serves 800 stu-dents in cramped quarters. The facility has only 95 student stations and many professors, staff and administrators even share offices.

Late last year, CF officials gathered for a ground breaking to unveil the new campus’s infrastructure. Officials had hoped that the ground breaking would showcase the need for the final $7.3 million in state funds. After all, local economists say the facility would generate $15 million in annual economic impact.

The new facility will be 44,000 square feet and have 292 student stations.

“It will be about three times larger than the space we have now,” Marilyn Ladner, the Levy Campus provost, said at the groundbreaking ceremony.

The new facility will include a stand-alone building that will complement the existing welding training facility. Included in the project are labora-tories, general purpose classrooms, library, auditorium and exhibition area, student services and offices for instructors, administration and more.

[email protected]. Follow him on twitter @JoeOcalaNews.

Levy County Spring Job Fair Interested in a job in Levy? This fair is for you.Time and date: 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. May 25Place: Haven Hospice Community Center, 311 NE Ninth St., Chiefl andInformation: 352-493-6813, ext. 2870

Marion County Spring Manufacturing Job FairIf you are interested in a career in manufacturing, this is the place to go. Admission is free; professional dress is required.Time and date: 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. May 26Place: College of Central Florida Klein Center, 3001 SW College Road, Building 40, Ocala+ Youth Job Fair: This fair is designed for job seekers ages 16 to 24. You can meet with employers about summer jobs or longer-term employment. Most of the

employers will be places that can be accessed by walking, biking or public transportation.Time and date: 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. June 11Place: Marion County Public Library Headquarters, 2720 E. Silver Springs Blvd., Ocala.Information: 1-800-434-JOBS, ext. 2260

— Staff report . Information for this story came from news releases from the school district and CareerSource CLM.

JOB FAIRSFrom Page 8

NEW CENTERFrom Page 8

The time to start is now!

Learn moreCareerSource Citrus Levy Marion has many services to help job seekers. Start by visiting http://www.careersourceclm.com/job-seekers/job-seeker-services/ or by calling 1-800-434-5627About these job fairs

■ Registration: Register with Employ Florida Marketplace at www.employ-fl orida.com.

■ Check more tips at http://www.careersourceclm.com/job-seekers/resource-center/job-fair-preparation-tips/

Page 10: OSB Spring edition Career Resource

10 Sunday, April 24, 2016 |

By Joe CallahanStaff writer

M any students discover midway through college that they chose the wrong career

path. They head to their academic adviser’s office to find a new career. That decision to change career paths halfway through their education forces them to stay in school for one or more extra semesters.

CF officials will soon require first-year students to carefully explore all career opportunities early in their college life.

A year ago, CF launched Career Coach, an online resource designed to help people discover a career that best suits them. The college contracts out the service to a vendor that provides Career Coach at many colleges and universities nationwide.

“Career Coach is one of the many

tools that CF is using to give students the best opportunities for success,” CF spokeswoman Lois Brauckmuller said. “Our mission is to educate students, but we know our work is not done until those students are employed.” 

The site can be accessed by clicking the Career Coach tab on the bottom left of CF’s website, www.CF.edu.

Todd Reiland, a CF placement specialist, said Career Coach can be accessed by anyone — even if he or she is not a CF student.

“All incoming students for the fall

2016 semester must explore Career Coach,” said Reiland, adding the site has become very popular, with 30,000 visits in the first 12 months. The site allows students to explore “the most current local data on wages, employ-ment, job postings, and associated education and training requirements.

“Career Coach is a great tool for our students, and they are using it,” CF President Jim Henningsen said. In fact, CF students used its specially designed Career Coach site more than students who have the system.

“We are among the top five colleges in the nation in terms of usage of the tool,” Reiland said. “A student can take a quick personality assessment, which will match them up with a career.”

The user can click on the suggested career link and the site will let them explore the average Marion County income for that career. The program also provides data on job availability

and the potential for job growth. Since April 2015 there have been 1,000 per-sonality assessments and 500 resumes created.

Reiland said users do not need to register to use Career Coach. The advantages of creating a profile is that the user can save potential careers, resumes and other data discovered during the search.

Reiland said many people access the U.S. Department of Labor statistics to research job possibilities. Often some-one sees the average salary for a job and decides to take that route.

The problem: That income data is the national average. Career Coach will give the user the average salary for Marion County. That way the user can better gauge whether they want to pursue that job here.

Users also can put in a ZIP code and find out what the average salary is for other locations.

THANKS, COACH!

Program helps people fi nd the right career pathGive it a tryWhich career is right for you? The College of Central Florida offers an online site — cf.emsicareercoach.com — that anyone can use. It's primarily designed for fi rst-year students, but non-students can give it a go, as well.

Apply Today for a Better TomorrowApplications for July 2016 Classes Due April 21 or Until Classes are Filled

Get the Career and Education You Need.CTAE.edu : 352.671.72001014 SW 7th Rd., Ocala, FL 34471 | /MyCTAE

GET ON THE FAST TRACK TO A NEW CAREER WITH CTAEWith 23 exciting programs to choose from, including 19 “Career In A Year”

programs, CTAE offers the hands-on training, personal guidance and financial

aid options you need to get the most from your education.

CAN YOU IMAGINE A BRIGHTER FUTURE

Marion County Public Schools, An Equal Opportunity School District

Page 11: OSB Spring edition Career Resource

| Sunday, April 24, 2016 11

By Aida MallardCorrespondent

I f you have a disability – physical or mental — and need help finding or maintaining employment, the

Florida Division of Vocational Reha-bilitation is the perfect place to start.

Rachel Smith, community director of the Florida Division of Vocational Rehabilitation, said Vocational Reha-bilitation, or VR, is a federal/state program that helps Florida residents with physical or mental disabilities get and/or keep a job. She said VR’s vision is to be the first place people with dis-abilities turn to for help when seeking employment.

“We’re the employment place in the state of Florida,” said Smith. “We provide services for people who have barriers to employment. Our goal is to help you find a job or keep a job.”

Smith said the first thing to do when looking for help is to call the VR office in your area and make an appointment with a counselor. You can start by calling 352-295-3200.

Smith recommends bringing a completed application, which can be downloaded at www.rehabworks.org/customers.shtml, along with support-ive information about the disability, such as a letter from a physician. Applications also can be mailed by calling the local office.

Smith said any condition that affects employment is considered a disability. To be eligible for VR services, employ-ment has to be the applicant’s goal. Other criteria include having a physical or mental disability that interferes with the ability to become employed and really wanting help to find or keep a job.

“You have to want to get a job,”

said Smith, adding that there are cases where the applicant doesn’t really want to work, but is pressured to do so by someone such as a spouse or family members.

Smith said persons who qualify for services receive a “very” individu-alized job evaluation to determine barriers and services needed to reach employment goals.

Smith said VR will look at the income of eligible persons to deter-mine if they will be required to share the cost of vocational rehabilitation services. Some persons or services may be exempt and not require payment.

She said all eligible persons are assigned a category of services based on the significance of the disability.

VR services include medical and psychological assessment, vocational evaluation and planning, career coun-seling and guidance, work experience while in high school, training and education after high school, job site assessment and accommodations, job placement, job coaching, on-the-job training, supported employment, assisstive technology and devices and time-limited medical and/or psycho-logical treatment.

Julie Seals, 52, said her life had been a difficult one until VR turned it around for her. Seals was born with spina bifida, a birth defect, and was expected to be severely developmen-tally disabled and unable to walk. Neither of these things happened, but neurological complications caused chronic infected ulcers and led to the amputation of her left leg below the knee. At the time, she was 34 years old, held an associate’s degree, and received disability payments.

In 2010, at the age of 45, she moved from California to Florida, but couldn’t get a job. She reached out to VR in Jacksonville and asked for help to get back to college.

VR paid for tuition and books and she earned a bachelor’s degree in health sciences/health education at the University of North Florida in Jacksonville. VR also paid for an additional wellness coach training and certification program and provided eye glasses, special orthothic shoes, and a business suit.

While at UNF, Seals was hired by the Northeast Florida Area Health Edu-cation Center as a contracted health education facilitator. She graduated in 2014 and was hired full time as a corporate wellness program manager and licensed wellness coach respon-sible for coordinating the development

of eight interactive life-changing well-ness workshops and facilitate health education workshops.

“I would highly recommend VR to anyone with a disability who has the desire to trade in a government check for a real paycheck earned by working at a real job,” Seals wrote in an email. “I was extremely grateful for the Social Security disability checks that I received for 19 years, and I still have occasional (more like “regular”) health and medical issues that crop up with my only remaining foot.”

“I have now been completely off dis-ability for over three years,” continued Seals.

“VR is wonderful beyond description. I did my part and have worked very hard to get to where I am today, but I could not have done it without their assistance or the grace of God.”

DIVISION OF VOCATIONAL REHABILITATION

State agency steers disabled toward

employment

Julie Seals, a corporate wellness program manager and licensed wellness coach, reached out to the Florida Division of Vocational Rehabilitation to get a degree and find a job. PHOTO COURTESY OF FLORIDA VOCATIONAL REHABILITATION

“I have now been completely off disability for over three years. VR is wonderful beyond description. I did my part and have worked very hard to get to where I am today, but I could not have done it without their assistance or the grace of God.”

—Julie Seals, corporate wellness program manager

Page 12: OSB Spring edition Career Resource

12 Sunday, April 24, 2016 |

This product or workforce solution was funded in whole (or in part) by a $10 million TAACCCT grant awarded by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employment andTraining Administration.

TheWorkforce Guaranteed

Graduate programensures that

when you hire ourgraduates,

they will be prepared to meet the

requirements of your company. If

you find a graduatelacking in any

area related to their program of

study, CF will retrain at no cost to

you or the employee.

The College of Central

Florida stands behind

its graduates.

visit ourwebsite at cf.edu/guaranteed or call:

352-873-5800, ext.1855 or 1633

–an equal op

portunity

college–