the

Mad Hatter

A Douglas College Newsletter.

 

   

 

 

JOB CLUB

Building Success-Finding Jobs

Shel ley Somerville is not a difficult person to please. All she expects is a little
determination, a healthy attitude, and for all of her students to find employment.

And that's not surprising. As coordinator of the Job Club, centered out of the
New Westminster campus of Douglas College, it is her duty to help people find work.

"We take in about 20 people per club session, and at least 75 per cent find work after
just three weeks," says Somerville.

Somerville is a well qualified group leader. Her experiences with similar programs
reaches to Surrey, Delta and Langley school boards, to the campuses of Vancouver Community
College and Kwantlen, and now Douglas College.

@..- Job Club is a program open to almost any unemployed woman or man. "We take an active
and intensive approach to helping people find work," Somerville says.

This is done by tapping the "hidden job markets", as Somerville calls it. These are jobs
not listed at the Unemployment Office, personnel agencies or in newspapers.

"Even in a tight labour climate people still quit, retire, get fired, go back to school

or have babies. To find these types of jobs, we teach people to contact employers
directly."

And she claims her students find up to 50 job contacts per week while they are in the
Job Club.

Once contacts are found, students are taught to talk to employers over the phone, in an
interview and with letters.

It's Somerville's fourth year teaching the Job Club, and recent surveys of former students
brought responses such as "excellent", "a great benefit", and "thank you very sincerely."

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