Customized for Job Corps Staff

Certification as a Career Development Facilitator has become the "gold standard" for staff training and capacity-building in career and workforce development. Job Corps National Director Richard Trigg, in his national strategy guidelines for "The Three R's" specifically suggested the need for staff to obtain this important credential.

WDPN.net has been providing Career Development Facilitator Certification (CDF) training to Job Corps staff for almost 2 years. Our hands-on, project-based curriculum has been specifically customized to meet the needs of Job Corps staff and allows participants to work on real-life, relevant projects that can be readily implemented within Job Corps. Participants in the course work on both team and individual projects, learning the skills and competencies they need for certification, as well as developing a more thorough understanding of youth career development needs and best practice services. They learn about:

• Assessment Basics -- Types of career assessments, appropriate use of assessment tools, how to interpret and use career assessments with students for better career planning.

• Labor Market Information -- Resources for locating labor market information, how to use labor market information for the most effective career planning, how to engage students in researching LMI for their own need.

• Career Planning Strategies -- Factors in student's lives that influence career planning and career planning readiness, strategies for engaging students in developing their own career plans, how to use career portfolios and other tools for effective career planning.

• Job Search and Career Retention and Advancement Techniques -- Effective job search practices, strategies for supporting students in retaining their jobs and advancing in their careers, strategies for engaging students in the job search and job retention process.

• Business Outreach and Services -- how to engage businesses in the Job Corps process and provide the services businesses need to support Job Corps students.

• WIA Partnerships and Collaboration -- understanding Job Corps' role in the WIA system, working effectively with WIA partners, strategies for developing and solidifying "win-win" relationships.

• Career Facilitation Techniques -- the interpersonal and case management skills necessary to fully engage students in developing and implementing their own career plans and provide the resources necessary to achieve career success.

• Program Development & Management/Continuous Quality Improvement -- customer data collection methods, data analysis, developing programs and services that meet customer needs, using data for fact-based management, understanding performance outcomes/objectives and the processes and services that support Job Corps performance requirements, budgeting & financial issues.

• Personal/Professional Development -- what it means to REALLY be a team member and ways to function effectively in a team environment, creating and implementing staff professional development plans for life-long learning and continuous personal development, individual style and performance factors that influence work performance.