BR Works: A Local, Helpful, Free Job Board – and More

For those who currently live in Baton Rouge, or are looking to move to Baton Rouge, BRWorks has provided a full job board which gathers information from over 55,000 websites including Indeed. This site’s goal is to show local openings in order to encourage people to seek jobs in Baton Rouge rather than outside of the city or even the state. This website is an initiative of the Baton Rouge Area Chamber created in response to drastic changes during the COVID-19 pandemic. This website has evolved into providing information on job opportunities, educational advancement, training, and local resources for job seekers and employers.

Job Openings

There are several starting points on this website when it comes to looking for a job. The first option is to simply look at the job openings, which can be sorted by industry, city, company and full or part time. Each listing will have the job title, the company, the median salary, and the posted salary for most positions. This is a very useful piece of information to be able to see how the posted salary matches up with the median salary. There will also be a percentage listed on each position which will indicate how well your skills match up with the skills required for the position. In order to determine your match, you will have to input your skills into their matching system.

Get Matched

This is another starting point for finding a job on this website. You are able to answer several questions about your interests as well as any skills you have obtained. The first step is to answer a short series of questions about various tasks and indicating how much you would or would not like to do that task. This is a much simpler version of other career exploration questionnaires that are available and listed on our website if you would like more information on your interests and how they tie into job searching. You will then manually add your skills, and the skills list is searchable by job title, which can be very helpful. This can also be a very useful tool when creating your own resume! Once you have added your skills to your profile, you will see changes in the match percentage listed on the job openings, as well as a change in the types of job listings being suggested to you. This will allow you to then select jobs that you already have the skill set for or see which skills you still need to learn for your dream job which you will be able to indicate that you want to learn them by selecting the star next to the specific skill.

Upskilling

This leads us to the upskilling portion of the website, where you can see various different avenues to learn various skills. When you have chosen the skills you want to learn from the job listings, you will then be able to see specific courses and programs associated with those skills. These courses could be associated with Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) such as Udemy or with local colleges which have relevant degrees and coursework. This website will tell you the average cost of the course or program when that information is available. Most of the courses recommended by BR Works do cost money, so before you commit to that, investigate whether there’s a way to get that training for free. We would like to encourage our readers to double check with the EBR Parish Library digital education offerings, as you will have access to free courses with various MOOCs using your library card number. There are also free Coursera courses offered through the LAworks website. This post will detail the process of signing up for that program. However, the BR Works site does allow you to have a more tailored view of the various course offerings as well as local college course/program offerings which is a very useful tool in advancing your professional enrichment.

Job Seeker Resources

This page provides information about local resources associated with job seeking such as Employ BR, HOPE ministries, local job fairs and a link to our website which is also full of valuable information! They also offer information on financial resources such as the GO Grant, LSU career change scholarship, and MJ Foster Promise project.

This website provides a lot of valuable information tailored to the residents of EBR Parish and could be very helpful in your job search. Please check this website out and feel free to also explore the resources available through our website and department at the Career Center located in the Main library on Goodwood. We provide information and assistance in job searching, career coaching, resume creation and interview preparation. If you have any further questions, you can reach out to us via email, phone or in-person or reach out to your local branch and ask for assistance.

Written by Kathryn Cusimano

Get Your Small Business Going with the Startup Accelerator Program

Starting a small business requires more than hard work – it requires a shrewd business acumen. Now, Baton Rouge has a new low-cost option for gaining that know-how.

A new training program for startups has been created by a partnership between the LSU Innovation, the Baton Rouge Area Chamber, and Nexus Louisiana. This program is building upon the IDEAinstitute program established by the Idea Village 4 years ago and has provided training for over 300 founders. These three companies also came together to publish the Startup City magazine for 2022-2023 discussing local entrepreneurs and companies. We will give a brief overview of the program as well as each of these companies.

The Training Program

This training program will be 10 weeks and will closely follow the IDEAinstitute program which leads you from deciding on a great startup idea in week 1 to pitching your startup in week 10. In between, there are weekly learning modules, weekly zoom calls, one-on-one coaching and guest speakers. This program is hybrid so participation can be done long-distance as well as in-person. This program will teach you various skills such as asking the right questions, creating a business model, and building and presenting your pitch. Participating in this program will also help build connections with a community of peers and mentors locally and across the region.

Application Process

You can apply for the next IDEAinstitute cohort that begins in mid-April at this link. This program will require a payment of $285 but there is the option to apply for partial and full scholarships. The application process is relatively straightforward, but you will need to have an idea, invention or venture planned before applying to the program. If you need any assistance filling out this application, we at the Career Center will be glad to help. You can also learn more about small business in general through the Small Business Services department at the Main Library on Goodwood.

About LSU Innovation

The LSU Innovation works with researchers at LSU to help evaluate, protect and license any intellectual property created at LSU. The office strives to advance innovation by helping faculty, supporting research, and working with entrepreneurs and businesses to make these inventions commercial. Essentially, they aim to help entrepreneurs interested in starting a company with LSU intellectual property as well as build relationships with the Baton Rouge business community.

About the Baton Rouge Area Chamber

The Baton Rouge Area Chamber is an organization with a focus on economic development in the Capital Region including Ascension, EBR, East and West Feliciana, Iberville, Livingston, Point Coupee, St. Helena and WBR parishes. BRAC runs the BR Works website which helps local jobseekers find jobs that work best for them. They also run the Riverbend Research program which provides consulting and analysis for businesses. There is also a political action committee conducted within BRAC called FuturePAC which focuses on economic development issues. BRAC is funded by local Capital Region businesses that invest into this program.

About NexusLA

Nexus Louisiana is a company that strives to provide resources for high tech start-up companies and accelerate growth of those companies. They focus on regional collaboration to connect local entrepreneurs with the coaching, capital and connections they need to grow and succeed.

About the Idea Village

The Idea Village supports local entrepreneurs as well as elevates New Orleans’s reputation as a hub of innovation, entrepreneurship and business. This company helps entrepreneurs build innovative and industry-leading companies that generate revenue and jobs. Their goal is to create a more resilient and vibrant local economy.

If you have any further questions, we can do our best to assist you here at the Career Center! Come by in person at 7711 Goodwood Boulevard, call us at 223-231-3733 or email us at llee@ebrpl.com.

Written by Kathryn Cusimano

Become a Skilled Trade Worker with the Industrial Training Initiative

We are excited to announce a new session of the North Baton Rouge Industrial Training Initiative, a fantastic free job-skills training program.  The new session of classes will begin in January 2023.

Are you interested in learning a skilled trade that will prepare you to work for local industrial employers? This may be the program for you. 

The North Baton Rouge Industrial Training Initiative (NBRITI) is sponsored by ExxonMobil and Baton Rouge Community College (BRCC). This program provides training, credentials, and job placement for students in four in-demand fields. 

WHICH PROGRAMS ARE AVAILABLE?

  • Electrical – upon successful completion, receive NCCER certifications, Level 1 and Level 2
  • Millwright – upon successful completion, receive NCCER certifications, Level 1 and Level 2
  • Pipe Fitting – upon successful completion, receive NCCER certifications, Level 1 and Level 2
  • Welding -upon successful completion, receive  X-ray certification

HOW LONG ARE THE PROGRAMS?

Each program is 52-weeks long, and classes meet twice per week from 6:00pm to 9:00pm. The program also contains job placement assistance and career fair opportunities for its graduates. 

WHAT SKILLS DO I NEED?

While the program is designed to fully prepare you for a career in your chosen field, successful students will display timeliness, attention to detail, and strict adherence to safety protocols.  

HOW CAN I FIND OUT MORE?

Written by Karla Stewart

Career Center in the News

April was Second Chance Month, a month dedicated to assisting the formerly incarcerated with reintegrating into society – in other words, giving them a second chance. There were numerous programs focused on raising awareness about the difficulties faced by re-entry citizens, as well as highlighting the resources available to help. Our local Fox 44 TV station interviewed us about the resources that the Career Center offers to assist all jobseekers, including those with criminal records. Here is that video:

YouTube player

 

Additionally, we were recognized by the City-Parish of East Baton Rouge for our work in assisting the formerly incarcerated. We were honored to receive a certificate of appreciation from Councilwoman Chauna Banks, and delighted to meet representatives from other local organizations who have done great work for re-entering citizens.

Although Second Chance Month has ended, the Career Center’s mission is never finished. If you would like help with planning your career or searching for work, please come visit us at 7711 Goodwood Blvd or call us at 225-231-3733.

Written by Lynnette Lee

Get Free Training Towards a New Career with Data Science for All

Careers in technology are increasingly popular due to the potential for competitive salaries and flexible schedules including the option to work remotely. But for people without a degree in computer science or a background in programming, jobs in the tech industry have seemed largely unattainable. Data Science for All is a program that provides pathways into the field for people from underrepresented groups.

What is Data Science for All?

Data Science for All (DS4A) is a free 14-week data analytics training program taught by industry professionals from top universities. All classes are virtual and live so that students can interact with instructors and with each other. Because it’s designed with students and working professionals in mind, classes are held on Saturdays. The program prepares participants for jobs in technology, finance, consulting, sales, marketing, engineering, research, product, and entrepreneurship. DS4A also connects students with mentors, job coaching, and career opportunities. Program graduates have landed jobs at companies like Target, Johnson & Johnson, and Amazon!

Who is eligible?

Eligible candidates include those who identify as Black, Latino/Latina, Hispanic, Native American, Asian, Pacific Islander, or LGBTQ+. The program is also open to military veterans, military spouses, and people with disabilities.

What skills will participants acquire?

Instructors will use real business scenarios and data to teach students skills that will prepare them for a career in data science. Topics covered in the program include:

  • PYTHON
  • DATA TRANSFORMATION
  • DATA INTERPRETATION AND VISUALIZATIONS
  • EXPLORATORY DATA ANALYSIS
  • SQL
  • DASHBOARDING WITH TABLEAU
  • STATISTICAL FOUNDATIONS OF DATA
  • HYPOTHESIS TESTING AND EXPERIMENTATION
  • DATA-DRIVEN DECISION-MAKING
  • LINEAR MODELING

How to apply:

When the application window opens, candidates can begin the process by visiting the website: https://www.correlation-one.com/data-science-for-all-empowerment

The two-step application process consists of a short (about 15 minutes) online application and an assessment that identifies your problem solving strategies. Those candidates selected to continue the application process based on their application and assessment, will be invited for a video interview. Join the mailing list to be notified when the application process for the next session will begin.

Written by Karla Stewart

Become a Skilled Trade Worker with the Industrial Training Initiative

Are you interested in learning a skilled trade that will prepare you to work for local industrial employers? This may be the program for you. 

The North Baton Rouge Industrial Training Initiative (NBRITI) is sponsored by ExxonMobile and Baton Rouge Community College (BRCC). This program provides training, credentials, and job placement for students in four in-demand fields. 

WHICH PROGRAMS ARE AVAILABLE?

  • Electrical – upon successful completion, receive NCCER certifications, Level 1 and Level 2
  • Millwright – upon successful completion, receive NCCER certifications, Level 1 and Level 2
  • Pipe Fitting – upon successful completion, receive NCCER certifications, Level 1 and Level 2
  • Welding -upon successful completion, receive  X-ray certification

HOW LONG ARE THE PROGRAMS?

Each program is 52-weeks long, and classes meet twice per week from 6:00pm to 9:00pm. The program also contains job placement assistance and career fair opportunities for its graduates. 

WHAT SKILLS DO I NEED?

While the program is designed to fully prepare you for a career in your chosen field, successful students will display timeliness, attention to detail, and strict adherence to safety protocols.  

HOW CAN I FIND OUT MORE?

Written by Karla Stewart

Should You Put Your Vaccination Status on Your Resume or LinkedIn?

Many workplaces are changing hiring policies in order to comply with new state and federal regulations about the COVID-19 vaccine. According to job search site indeed.com, data shows that job postings requiring vaccinations increased by 242% from August to September 2021. The outcome of other recent surveys point into a similar direction: one third of hiring managers in one survey said they would eliminate candidates that are not fully vaccinated against COVID. With that in mind, could being fully vaccinated – and advertising that fact on your resume – give you a leg up over other candidates?

a simple question with a complex answer

So, should you be upfront about your vaccinations status and include it on your resume and/or LinkedIn profile? As with so many issues in the job search orbit – it depends. It will depend on your industry, on your role, and on your location. Some industries have stricter vaccination rules, such as healthcare and education. Jobs that work closely with many people, e.g. nurse, physician, or teacher might be more inclined towards vaccine mandates. And some states and municipalities have stricter vaccine mandates and rules than others.

Because conditions differ so much across the country and between industries, our number one recommendation is: do careful research into your potential employer.

Putting your “fully vaccinated” status on your resume would be advantageous if:

  • You know that your potential employer requires it and/or the job add specifies that vaccine status needs to be included on the application
  • The city or parish/county the employer is located in has a vaccine mandate
  • Through careful research (by talking to current employees, following local media and social media) you have gleaned that the potential employer is generally pro vaccine
  • The potential job involves a lot of travel (as being vaccinated makes travel easier)
  • You want to work for an employer that has mostly vaccinated employees

Not putting your vaccine status on your resume would be advantageous if:

  • You are unsure of the potential employer’s stance on the COVID 19 vaccine
  • Through careful research (by talking to current employees, following local media and social media) you have gleaned that the potential employer tends to lean against vaccine requirements
  • You are not planning to apply at companies that would require or favor vaccinations anyway

What about Linkedin?

Putting your vaccination status on LinkedIn differs from putting it on the resume in so far that you can tailor the resume for each employer. But if you add #fullyvaccinated on your LinkedIn profile it is out there for any employer to see, regardless how they lean on the issue.

Advertising vaccine status on resume or LinkedIn profile can be advantageous and give you an edge in recruiting, or it can achieve the opposite. This is a tricky topic that warrants careful research and consideration of your own as well as your potential employer’s attitudes toward the COVID 19 vaccine.

Written by Anne Nowak

Covid Killed Your Career?  Rejuvenate It with a “Reboot”

If you’ve been laid off due to COVID, don’t miss this valuable opportunity to gain new job skills at a reduced cost through the Reboot Your Career Program.

What is it?

The Reboot Your Career program is designed to support workers who may be unemployed due to COVID-19 to re-train for available jobs on high-wage career pathways. Governor John Bel Edwards prioritized federal CARES Act funding for this critical initiative, which is available now through the spring of 2021.  So act fast!!! Learn more at their website.

How does it work?

Some of the great aspects of this program include:

  • Reduced tuition
  • No application fees
  • Short term training

After completion of the program and upon receipt of certification of completion there are monies set aside to reimburse tuition costs from $300 to $350 through EmployBR. Some of the most coveted programs within the craft division even include NCCER certifications.

What programs are offered?

There is a wide variety of in-demand training opportunities including: healthcare, transportation and logistics, information technology, manufacturing, construction, and telecommunications equipment installers and repairers.

You could get trained to become a nursing assistant, medical records and health information IT specialist, automotive body repairer, heavy equipment and tractor-trailer operator, truck driver, web developer, welder, structural metal fabricator, carpenter, electrician, or wastewater treatment plant operator, to name only a few.

A listing of all careers within this program is available here.

How do i apply?

To apply contact Ethel Germany at germanye@mybrcc.edu

Written by Cynthia Payton

Micro-Internships with Parker Dewey

One of the many casualties of the 2020 CoVid-19 pandemic has been the summer internship. What had been a valuable tool for college students to get their foot in the doors of well-paying and meaningful jobs, and for employers to find and vet new talent – the 10-week internship – has become nearly impossible to implement in the age of social distancing and working from home.

As with so many other aspects of our lives, CoVid-19 might have only exposed the existing flaws in the current internship methodology.  That’s what Jeffrey Moss, the CEO of Parker Dewey, thought when he founded the company in 2015. Parker Dewey pioneered the concept of what they call “micro-internships,” which are 5- to 40-hour assignments posted by companies that are open for college students and recent graduates (“Career Launchers,” in the Parker Dewey nomenclature). We at the Career Center recently heard about the program and listened to an interview with Moss, and have compiled a list of pros and cons to Parker Dewey and the micro-internship framework.

A note: The East Baton Rouge Library Career Center and its employees are in no way affiliated with Parker Dewey. We’re posting this to help our college student and recent graduate patrons who might be interested in working with Parker Dewey.

Pros

You get paid!

The cliché about college internships is that it’s a lot of running around, getting coffee and dry-cleaning, and not getting paid for it – you’re supposed to be grateful for getting your foot in the door. Parker Dewey gets rid of that – their business model is to act as a contractor for their client companies, hiring out for jobs that their clients don’t have the time or resources to do with their own employees. So they charge a fee to their clients, skim a percentage off the top, and pass the rest on to the workers – what they call “Career Launchers.”

You can try out different kinds of jobs.

In all the press we’ve read surrounding Parker Dewey – including the interview we sat in on – Moss relates the story of one of the college students working for him who compared micro-internships to dating. Doing short-term work – each job is between five and forty hours – for a multitude of different companies enables students, who are just starting their professional lives, to “play the field” of different industries, different roles, and different careers before deciding where they want to spend the bulk of their careers.

Parker Dewey is pretty hands-off after facilitating the meeting.

Even though student workers are paid by, and technically employees of, Parker Dewey, Moss said that they like to stay as hands-off as possible after giving the employer and worker each other’s contact information. If you work for a company and they want to hire you for something else afterward, or even ask you to join them full-time, they don’t have to go through Parker Dewey to do it – which is nice, especially when a lot of other online facilitating companies like Uber, Rover, etc., will kick users off if they continue their relationship outside their platforms.

Cons

It’s only open to college students and recent graduates.

The limitation to college students and graduates is pretty typical for internships, but it’s still a limiting factor here. Traditional internships also have technical reasons why they’re only open to students, such as their scheduling and lack of pay, but these micro-internships don’t share those limitations. In this light, limiting the hiring pool to just students and recent graduates seems artificial – there are plenty of older people or non-college-graduates who want to try a new career, or to make ends meet between jobs, and they’d benefit from micro-internships too. Maybe Parker Dewey is trying to keep the applicant pool small and manageable.

You are working for parker dewey, not the actual company.

When you enter your work at the micro-internships on your resume, you’ll need to use Parker Dewey’s name as the employer, since they’re technically who you worked for. In the interview with Jeffrey Moss we watched, he said you’re welcome to note the types of projects you did, and usually you can mention the companies you worked with there. But sometimes, you have to keep that secret too – so a micro-internship might not be as good for padding out your resume as a traditional internship can be.

So far as we can tell, Parker Dewey is the only company really in the micro-internship space.

While Parker Dewey seems like a good company that is “mission-focused” (Moss said that multiple times in his interview!) in providing students with quality internships, it would be good if they had some competition in the space. The only other one we could really find was something called Riipen, which seems more focused on providing a pipeline for schools – meaning it’s only available for students at universities who subscribe to their service. Parker Dewey, on the other hand, is open for anyone to use – we were even able to create an account, although we probably won’t get any micro-internships.

If you have worked with Parker Dewey before, or know of another micro-internship company, let us know!

Written by Case Duckworth

Announcing Our YouTube Channel!

We here at the Career Center believe that every cloud has a silver lining, that every thorn has its rose, and that every night has its dawn. The ongoing hardship that is the COVID-19 pandemic has brought its fair share of pain, but it has also allowed time for our staff to create video content that will be useful long after the pandemic is over.

In short, the East Baton Rouge Library Career Center now has a YouTube channel! Our new channel can be found at this address: https://www.careercenterbr.com/youtube. There will be new content up every Monday morning and Thursday afternoon.

Our offerings will include:

  • Resumes and Cover Letters Playlist: Tips for writing, editing, and formatting resumes and cover letters, from our Certified Professional Resume Writers.
  • Job Interview Questions Playlist: Demonstrations of the best – and worst – ways to answer the most common interview questions.
  • Work-from-Home Websites Playlist: Reviews of work-from-home websites, to help jobseekers find legitimate remote opportunities.
  • Common Job Applications Playlist: Walk-throughs of how to complete online job applications for companies which we’ve seen clients struggle with in the Career Center.
  • Popular Seminars: In addition to the topics mentioned above, we will film seminars such as How to Succeed at a Job Fair, Professionalism and Business Etiquette, Advance Your Career With MOOCs, and more.

We would also love to hear from our clients about what they’d like to see on this channel. If you have an idea for a video, please email anowak@ebrpl.com.

So please, check out our YouTube channel, subscribe, and watch some videos! And stay safe while hunkering down at home.

Written by Case Duckworth