Insights and PerspectivesRead the latest from Geographic Solutions.https://www.geographicsolutions.com/News-Events/BlogPaving The Way For Reemploymenthttps://www.geographicsolutions.com/News-Events/Blog/PostId/314/paving-the-way-for-reemploymentCareer Pathways,Education,Employment Statistics,General,Reemployment,Workforce DevelopmentTue, 23 Aug 2022 14:33:52 GMT<p>Did you know that the employment rates in many of Connecticut’s industries are higher now than they were before the start of the Covid-19 pandemic? According to Patrick Flaherty, Director of the Office of Research at the Connecticut Department of Labor, <a href="https://www1.ctdol.state.ct.us/lmi/laborsit.asp">job growth has been consistent in 2022</a> and the unemployment rate is down to its early 2019 level.</p> <p>This upswing in job growth can be partly attributed to the state’s Jobs First Employment Services Program, or JFES. Each year since 2018, thousands of participants are referred to <a href="https://www.workforcealliance.biz/jobs-first-employment-services/">American Job Centers</a> in cities throughout the region.</p> <p>The JFES program’s goal is to provide employment services to families receiving <a href="https://www.geographicsolutions.com/TANF">Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF)</a> and help parents gain skills to obtain employment. The program gauges success on several elements, including:</p> <ul> <li>Freedom from cash assistance within the 21-month program time limit</li> <li>Continuous employment and independent from assistance</li> <li>Increase in basic and occupational skills, job coaching, and work experience</li> </ul> <p>To be eligible for JFES, an individual must be receiving Temporary Family Assistance (TFA). Weekly participation of approximately 20 hours of employment activities is required for any person with children under the age of six, while persons with children over the age of six must participate in 30 hours.</p> <p>Thanks to added flexibility in participation requirements, if participants perform at least 50% of their required hours, their TFA benefits will not be taken away. CTDOL partners with the Connecticut Council of Family Service Agencies (CCFSA) to aid JFES clients who struggle meeting their participation requirements through intervention and removal services.</p> <p>“The CTDOL partners with other state agencies and community partners to deliver the JFES program,” said Acting Director of WIOA Administration, Erica Tew during a recent <a href="https://go.geographicsolutions.com/connecticutpathwaysvideo">Pathways to Employment</a> webinar. “The Connecticut Department of Social Services (CTDSS) is the agency that administers the benefits, and [partners with] the five workforce development boards that oversee the Employment and Training and case management programs.”</p> <p><strong>Operating in Covid Times</strong></p> <p><b></b>During the pandemic, the program was suspended, but virtual services were offered to customers. According to Tew, “on average, nearly half of our caseload continued to participate during this time.” In July 2021, the program was reopened and CTDSS referrals were accepted again, but with dramatic changes to the foundational rules of the program.</p> <p>“We have made many changes to the JFES program over the course of the past 13 months to make it easier for clients to participate,” said JFES Unit Director, Mike Bartley. “About 33% of JFES participants performed work and have overcome significant barriers to employment.</p> <p><strong>How Do Participants Arrive at the JFES program?</strong></p> <p><b></b>The CTDOL partners with state agencies and communities to deliver the JFES program. Unlike other workforce programs, participants can’t join the program simply by walking into an American Job Center. Those taking part in the program must be referred by a state agency and receiving TFA.</p> <p>“It’s similar to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Employment and Training where persons receiving a particular benefit have to participate in some type of employment and training activity for a certain number of hours per week,” said Tew.</p> <p>The most common referral path happens when a participant applies for benefits through the DSS. Case managers assess each applicant and refer them to their region’s JFES program orientation.</p> <p><strong>Program Innovations</strong></p> <p>Over the last few years, the JFES program has relied on several innovations to succeed.</p> <ul> <li><strong>Family Centered Coaching</strong>: This is an approach that helps case managers engage with the whole family, rather than just the individual participants. It takes into account that one approach does not fit all families, considering that families may address challenges in different ways. It helps to create customized solutions for each family. </li> <li><strong>Financial Literacy</strong>: The second innovation was established with the Connecticut Association for human services, or CAHS, which provides financial literacy education classes. These sessions are provided to the public by a network of volunteers who have worked in the financial services industry. And these workshops denote the first introduction to the concept of saving and budgeting for many clients. </li> <li><strong>Refugee Resettlement</strong>: In addition, a pilot program was launched that partners with Workforce Alliance and the Refugee Resettlement Agency. JFES case managers are embedded within families to address some of the historical issues that refugees have had in connecting to our jobs first program. Originally, multiple organizations helped the refugee and there tended to be miscommunication between them all. Placing a JFES case manager at the refugee resettlement agency has helped to cut out miscommunication and make the clients feel safe and comfortable while trying to transition into getting employment support and services.</li> </ul> <p><strong>Inspiring success stories</strong></p> <p><b></b>Geographic Solutions supports the efforts of the Connecticut Department of Labor as they provide employment services to people. Their work encourages skills gain in the name of employment, lays the groundwork financial independence. See inspirational JFES success stories by <a href="https://trainingvideos.geosolinc.com/Marketing/Jobs_First_Employment_Services_%28JFES%29_SFY19_Annual_Report.mp4">clicking here</a>.</p> 314The Benefits Of The Alison Career Guidehttps://www.geographicsolutions.com/News-Events/Blog/PostId/295/benefits-of-alison-career-guideAlison,EducationThu, 21 Oct 2021 18:57:00 GMT<p style="margin-bottom:11px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><b>By the Alison Editorial Team</b></span></span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom:11px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">When it comes to helping career seekers on the path to finding fulfilling and gainful employment, it can be challenging to map out exactly how upskilling in specific areas will result in a career. Job seekers often struggle to stay motivated if they can't see how a course in, say, supply chains, will translate into a warehouse manager job. Central to a workforce agency's role in upskilling individuals is helping them map out a practical journey towards their desired career.</span></span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom:11px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><a href="https://alison.com/careers" style="color:#0563c1; text-decoration:underline">Alison's Career Guide</a> is a dynamic and multifaceted tool that does exactly that. The guide allows workforce agencies to help job seekers chart their journey towards successfully qualifying for, and attaining, their career of choice. A one-stop resource, it lays out hundreds of career paths along with the skills and qualifications required to achieve them.</span></span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom:11px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The Career Guide helps take the guesswork out of upskilling by providing clear instructions on how to pursue a particular job. The Projected Career Map feature is as helpful for agencies as it is for job-seekers because it allows them to show their clients that there is a roadmap to success that they can follow. The Guide also provides a curated list of courses that will help them upskill appropriately. This offers goal-orientated learning for job-seekers and encourages engagement and commitment. </span></span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom:11px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The holistic nature of the Career Guide, offering career information as well as training and education, is a game-changer in the world of online education as it provides job-seekers with a complete roadmap to achieving their professional ambitions.</span></span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom:11px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The Career Guide can be used by workforce agencies in multiple ways, depending on their clients. For job seekers who know what career they want, but don't know how to get it, the guide offers everything they need to know about their chosen career. From courses related to their chosen career to courses teaching required skills, from Recommended Qualifications to suggested work experience, job seekers will find a trove of information that will help advance their prospects.</span></span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom:11px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">For job seekers who are unsure of what career they'd like to pursue, or even what sector they'd like to work in, the Career Guide can function as an open-ended encyclopedia with which they can explore a wide range of diverse career opportunities. Before upskilling in a specific field, a job-seeker needs to know what type of job they're pursuing. While many resources provide plenty of information on specific careers, locating a single resource that provides in-depth information on many career paths can be difficult. </span></span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom:11px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The Alison Career Guide covers 16 diverse sectors, such as Information Technology and Health Sciences, and each career is outlined through a series of concise subsections. Users can learn about a career's typical job responsibilities, the standard work environment and what kind of salary they can expect. Particularly helpful for undecided job-seekers is the Similar Careers section, which shows users jobs similar to the one they're researching but to which they might be better suited.</span></span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom:11px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The Career Guide is an intuitive resource designed to be navigated by both job-seekers and workforce agencies alike. Each career is assigned its appropriate Holland Codes and, like all other Alison tools and resources, can be leveraged as part of Alison Groups, which allows agencies to oversee and monitor the engagement and progress of their clients.</span></span></span></p> 295Alison.Com’s Self-Publishing Tool Brings New Opportunities For Upskilling And Reskillinghttps://www.geographicsolutions.com/News-Events/Blog/PostId/296/alisoncoms-self-publishing-tool-brings-new-opportunities-for-upskilling-and-reskillingAdult Education,Alison,EducationThu, 15 Jul 2021 15:12:00 GMT<p style="margin-bottom:11px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Discover a unique feature of Alison.com that provides a means for career continuity as well as an opportunity for a new path.</span></span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom:11px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">By the Alison.com Editorial Board</span></span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom:11px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Knowledge Sharing Empowers Yourself And Others </span></span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom:11px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Online courses are a universally accessible resource for jobseekers and life-long learners. Learning online is an alternate way to introduce people in need of reskilling to education and helps build the confidence of those who may not have formal learning experience. Equally, for those who have gone through the traditional education system and gained qualifications, once they find themselves back in the job market, online learning is one of the best tools out there for gaining new, in-demand skills or aiding a change in career direction. </span></span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom:11px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">However, taking online courses isn't the only way for jobseekers to benefit from online learning platforms. Some e-learning sites allow knowledge experts to freely publish their expertise. <a href="https://publishing.alison.com/home" style="color:#0563c1; text-decoration:underline">Alison’s Publishing Tool</a> is free to use for all learners, opening up two possible career paths. By directing jobseekers towards not just taking online courses but making online courses, workforce agencies can send their clients down a unique career pathway that is interesting, rewarding, and lucrative.<br />  </span></span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom:11px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Monetizing Your Knowledge </span></span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom:11px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">By using the Alison Publishing Tool to create courses based on their own experience and expertise, jobseekers are continuing to work in the sector in which they are already skilled. They can transform the knowledge they have garnered throughout their work-life into courses that will help others. For example, an accountant who can't find a job can teach online accounting courses, rather than retrain in an entirely new sector.</span></span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom:11px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><a href="https://alison.com/publish/self-publishing" style="color:#0563c1; text-decoration:underline">Self-publishing</a> also allows jobseekers to monetize their existing knowledge and skillsets, while upskilling important technical and teaching skills—both of which are highly transferable. Creating online courses can also be a gratifying career, as publishers are partaking in the democratization of education by sharing knowledge with a global audience, many of whom are in emerging educational markets.</span></span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom:11px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">To become a self-publisher on Alison, learners must complete a series of courses to train them in the technical requirements and bring them up to speed on the best pedagogical practices. To learn more about what it is like to self-publish with Alison, you can read this interview with <a href="https://blog.alison.com/s-m-waqas-imam-publishing-course-great-motivation-boost-people-admire-knowledge-skills/" style="color:#0563c1; text-decoration:underline">S. M. Waqas</a>, an industrial engineer who has become one of Alison’s most successful self-publishers.<br />  </span></span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom:11px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">A Career As A Freelance Course Creator</span></span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom:11px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Even if a jobseeker doesn't already have a body of professional knowledge and experience to draw on, a career in course publishing is still a possibility. <a href="https://alison.com/publish/course-creator" style="color:#0563c1; text-decoration:underline">Freelance Course Creators</a> build courses on behalf of subject matter experts that are interested in sharing their expertise.</span></span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom:11px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The opportunity to work from home (or from anywhere in the world) along with the freedom and flexibility to determine your own working hours has become an attractive perk for Course Creators. It's a freelance position that offers plenty of fantastic opportunities for advancement and promotion. Alison’s Course Creator program has seen many freelancers go onto full-time management roles within the Publishing Department. Read the success stories of <a href="https://blog.alison.com/simon-furnivall-coming-work-alison-given-real-strong-career-path/" style="color:#0563c1; text-decoration:underline">Simon Furnivall</a> and <a href="https://blog.alison.com/abasido-umoh-alison-contract-publisher-based-nigeria/" style="color:#0563c1; text-decoration:underline">Abasido Umoh</a> who have taken this career path on the Alison Blog.</span></span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom:11px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Becoming a freelance Course Creator on Alison also offers the opportunity to work directly with subject-matter experts and provides access to some of the sharpest minds across a variety of fields. It is a position that facilitates continuous development through exposure to a wide range of subjects and offers constant opportunities to learn.</span></span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom:11px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">All Course Creators are guided through the Course Creator Training Program by Alison’s supervisors, who work with them to publish their first course. After undergoing the necessary training, Course Creators work closely with publishers and the Alison team to ensure courses are of the highest quality. Alison also hosts regular <a href="https://alison.com/webinars" style="color:#0563c1; text-decoration:underline">webinars</a> presented by in-house experts. These sessions ensure that all self-publishers and Course Creators have access to the most cutting-edge theory and methodology behind producing top-quality courses, allowing them to maximize their earning potential.<br />  </span></span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom:11px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Self-Publishing For Workforce Agencies</span></span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom:11px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Alison's Publishing Tool also offers workforce agencies the opportunity to create personalized training courses that cater to their client’s specific needs. Agencies know their clients better than anyone, but sometimes it can be difficult to point them in the right direction for training if the resources simply aren't there. By utilizing the Publishing Tool, agencies can create the perfect upskilling material, specifically designed with the needs of their clients in mind. </span></span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom:11px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The Publishing Tool produces courses that adhere to Alison's tried and tested learning format, designed by our pedagogical experts. These are easy to follow and encourage quality learning and engagement. With Alison.com, workforce agencies will never be stuck for training resources again. If the training resource isn’t available, they will help create it!<br />  </span></span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom:11px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><b><i>About Alison</i></b></span></span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom:11px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><i>Alison believes that free education, more than anything has the power to break through boundaries and transform lives. Alison is one of the world’s largest free learning platforms for education and skills training – and is dedicated to making it possible for anyone, to study anything, anywhere, at any time, for free online, at any subject level. Today, Alison offers over 3,000 free online courses across a broad range of topics, produced by various publishers, ranging from major educational institutions to individual subject matter experts sharing expertise gained from decades of industry experience. Today, with more than 20 million learners in 195 countries, Alison is changing how the world learns and up-skills.</i></span></span></span></p> 296Tampa Bay Software CEO Council Gift To Think Big For Kids Aligns Donation With Missionhttps://www.geographicsolutions.com/News-Events/Blog/PostId/303/tampa-bay-software-ceo-council-gift-to-think-big-for-kids-aligns-donation-with-missionCharity,Education,Geographic Solutions, Inc.Mon, 15 Jun 2020 12:34:00 GMT<p style="margin-bottom:11px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">This article was originally published on <a href="http://www.stpetecatalyst.com/" style="color:#0563c1; text-decoration:underline">http://www.stpetecatalyst.com/</a>.</span></span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom:11px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Tampa Bay Software CEO Council donated more than $10,000 to Think Big for Kids, a nonprofit founded in 2016 by Tony DiBenedetto, tech executive and entrepreneur.</span></span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom:11px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Think Big for Kids provides career exploration, mentorship and skills development for underprivileged youth from 6th grade to 12th grade. Think Big for Kids partners with Boys & Girls Clubs and similar organizations to reduce systemic poverty and prepare young people to excel in high-demand professions.</span></span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom:11px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Those goals resonated with the members of the Tampa Bay Software CEO Council, which has a mission to make the area a magnet for tech talent.</span></span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom:11px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">“This donation comes at a critical time, when a majority of the kids we serve have recently experienced tremendous personal and educational upheaval. We have a unique opportunity to extend our reach and impact, thanks to this group who understands the importance of giving back and developing our next generation of talent,” DiBenedetto said.</span></span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom:11px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">In addition to Accusoft, other Software CEO Council member companies include A-LIGN, AgileThought, Bond-Pro, FairWarning, Geographic Solutions, Haneke Design, MercuryWorks, Sourcetoad, Spirion and SunView Software. The CEO Council is part of Tampa Bay Tech, a nonprofit technology council.</span></span></span></p> 303