Career Collaborative, Inc.

Job Search: After completing the course, participants enroll in Job Club, in which they receive individualized and group support while pursuing employment opportunities. Group meetings convene weekly typically on Mondays and Wednesdays, with participants gathering to discuss their progress, review and troubleshoot successes and challenges, and share ideas on next steps. Staff members also meet with participants for coaching sessions in which staff go over participants’ progress, discuss job possibilities, and make individual referrals for specific employment opportunities. Participants can also work with program staff and volunteers in our computer resource room on a variety of job search activities, such as drafting and submitting online employment applications. We provide participants with job search support for as long as it takes for them to obtain a job. Participants typically are able to secure a full-time position with benefits within twelve weeks.

Career Coaching: Following job placement, we mentor participants until they complete two years of continuous employment, during which time we provide coaching to help them navigate any issues at work or at home that might jeopardize their continued employment and help them prepare for and seek out raises and promotions. For the first six-months as standard practice, we call participants weekly and, over the following months, call them three times per month. We also email, text, and meet face-to-face with participants, as requested. We provide these mentoring services to close to 300 employed participants each year, helping them work through a wide range of issues that might affect their employment. An emphasis on developing participants’ financial literacy is also built into all phases of our programming. The Job Readiness and Job Search course includes an eight-hour financial literacy curriculum in which participants identify and develop long-term financial goals, learn how to obtain and use a bank account, understand the importance of credit scores, develop a realistic budget, and learn about debt management and the close relationship between their careers and their financial security. Staff continue working with participants to improve their financial health throughout all career coaching sessions.

Young adults in this category are particularly susceptible to falling into cycles of unemployment and underemployment without proper skills and guidance. There are very few organizations that support young adults who are not pursuing a college education or specialized skill training. Reaching this in-need population is challenging, but we learned that through partnering with young adult outreach programs, such as inner-city alternative high schools interested in developing new onsite program modules, we can be more effective in reaching and impacting our target audience. During 2018, we more than doubled participation of young adults in our programs and we look forward to expanding our presence with this group.

As a local leader in workforce readiness programming, Career Collaborative is constantly working to address the evolving employment needs of the community and identify any high-risk groups in need of support. In 2018, we learned about the critical need to support non-college bound young adults aged 25 and under, a population that faces many challenges securing employment. In response to this pressing need, in Q2 2018, we developed a new initiative to bring our proven job readiness and career coaching model to young adults who are not on a path towards college or other certifications. With over 20 years of experience successfully delivering career development services to low income adults with a wide range of employment barriers, Career Collaborative is well positioned to support the unique needs of young adults who are preparing to join the workforce full-time.

Career Collaborative's 'Level Up' initiative is a sub-set of our comprehensive organizational focus on recruiting young adults age 25 and under into our established three phase job readiness program. 'Level Up' is specifically focused on young adults aged 19-22 who attend alternative Boston public high schools. We developed the concept for ‘Level Up’ after meeting with educational administrators who shared that although there are many local programs that support college-bound young adults, there are few organizations that support young adults who are not pursuing college or specialized training. By collaborating with inner-city alternative high schools interested in pursuing onsite opportunities for their students and young adult outreach organizations, we can be more effective in reaching and impacting our target audience. In 2018, we more than doubled participation of young adults in our program and we look forward to expanding our presence with this group.

In 2019, we have partnered with alternative high school leaders, including Boston Adult Technical Academy (BATA), Headmaster Ben Helfat and Greater Egleston Community High School, Headmaster Kevin Brill, to refine a program model designed specifically for young adults. We are pleased to share that with the support of Headmaster Helfat, we completed a pilot of our 5-week onsite 'Level Up' course with 45 minute class sessions 5 days a week in May 2019 at BATA. 20 young adults enrolled in the course, 55% completed assigned job readiness modules, and several students expressed an interest in continuing their education by enrolling in our traditional program. Headmaster Helfat has asked us to continue to provide job readiness training throughout the 2019/2020 school year, and Headmaster Brill has invited us to work with Greater Egleston’s Dean of Students, Dedra Farmer Lewis, to partner with her team and deliver an 11-week onsite ‘Level Up’ course in October-December 2019.

To support the specialized needs of this group, we have developed a customized curriculum model tailored to the strengths and learning styles of young adults. Students benefit from both group learning sessions and individual meetings with instructors. Lessons incorporate interactive components and technology, instructors provide continuous performance feedback, and students have the ability to build their confidence as they practice enhancing their soft skills. We include focused activities on career exploration, target job search training, identifying career targets, creating a resume, career ladder structures, developing transferable skills, practice interview skills, and understanding the role of job screenings.