YouthForce Innovation Hub helps Athens teens get ready for first job - Online Athens

The archetypal steps successful trying to get a occupation are important, says Sterling Gardner, an Athens autochthonal with a program successful spot to assistance young radical recognize those principles.

Simple tasks similar showing up connected clip for an interrogation and completing the occupation exertion correctly are important with employers, Gardner said. 

Gardner and others precocious gathered astatine Georgia Square promenade successful Athens for the expansive opening of YouthForce Innovation Hub, a caller Boys & Girls Club of Athens programme that is geared toward helping teenagers summation employment and exploring vocation paths.

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The programme is housed successful an astir 6,100 square-foot abstraction connected the precocious level of the mall.

YouthForce is “highly innovative and interactive successful helping them make the brushed skills they need, specified arsenic interviewing skills and filling retired applications,” said Gardner, who is vice president of the program.

The programme offers vocation exploration from the standpoint of having a manufacturing process enactment astatine the center, a robotics program, and a virtual world programme that showcases antithetic workplaces from aviation to diesel mechanics, Gardner said.

“Even earlier a young idiosyncratic has a existent occupation experience, they tin really get an thought of what those peculiar jobs volition beryllium like,” Gardner said.

The expansive opening was besides a mode to amusement appreciation to Zach McLeroy, the president and co-founder of Zaxby’s, a concatenation of much than 800 restaurants. McLeroy gave a donation that provided major backing for YouthForce.

“This acquisition is genuinely a idiosyncratic donation by Mr. McLeroy to this programme due to the fact that helium believes successful it that much,” Gardner said, adding that Zaxby’s is an expanding institution that is heavy progressive successful the occupation market.

YouthForce is aimed chiefly at juniors and seniors successful precocious schoolhouse that are perchance entering the workforce successful 12 to 24 months, Gardner said.

The programme besides offers tract trips to companies, fiscal seminars, and occupation fairs.

“When we were increasing up, we astir apt had nary thought wherever we wanted to beryllium oregon we changed our majors successful assemblage 15 times,” helium said. “What this programme is looking to bash is to effort to lucifer kids with what they privation to bash and springiness them opportunities to spot what those jobs are like.”

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“When we surveyed employers astir things they wanted america to do, it was much astir the basal skills of showing up for an interrogation connected time, looking you successful the eye, shaking your hand, and filling retired the exertion completely,” said Gardner, a Cedar Shoals High and University of Georgia graduate.

Employers person expressed that “if we tin get kids done the doorway that tin bash the elemental things, past we tin thatch them galore of the existent method skills that it takes to bash our jobs,” helium said.

“We already person astir 100 young radical who person expressed involvement successful the program. I don’t cognize if we’ll beryllium capable to service each of them this year, but we genuinely privation to beryllium capable to service arsenic galore arsenic we can,” helium said.

For much information, sojourn www.greatfuturesathens.com.