Conestoga news

April 15, 2004 2:38 PM

Free Program Offers Key Skills for Employment or Education

As midwestern Ontario's most comprehensive postsecondary educational institution, Conestoga College has among its goals the provision of practical educational opportunities that give individuals the skills and confidence to enter or re-enter the job market, or to prepare for further, specialized career education.

In May, two Conestoga campuses will offer a free preparatory skills program called Employment/Training Readiness (E/TR). The daytime program begins at the campus in Guelph on Monday, May 3 and at the campus in Waterloo the following Monday (May 10).

Participants in E/TR work individually and in groups to focus on assessing and enhancing skills in a number of areas: mathematics, communications, goal setting, educational/job plan development, problem solving strategies applicable to family, self, work and leisure situations, computer basics and even a period of work shadow experience in actual employment settings.

Completion of the program can lead directly to a job search or to possible further education and training.

Because the program is structured slightly differently at each campus to be adaptable to the community setting, the E/TR program in Guelph is eight weeks in length, while in Waterloo it runs for ten weeks.

The program is open to applicants who are age 19 or older and who successfully complete a program suitability interview, but the enrolment capacity at each location is limited.

Interested persons may contact the Conestoga College Information Centre for details. Call 519-748-5220, ext. 3656 in Waterloo Region (or if calling from Perth or Huron counties) or 519-763-9525, ext. 3656 in the Guelph area.

CONTACT: Ann Ashberry (Waterloo campus), 519-885-0300, ext. 229, aashberry@conestogac.on.ca; Judy Bali (Guelph campus), 519-824-9390, ext. 172, jbali@conestogac.on.ca