Career Development Strategies

By Maria Villarreal, Contributing Writer

As the economic situation deepens, the time is ripe to jump start career development plans for the coming year. Fortunately, you don’t need to look very far or reach too deep into your wallet to improve jobs skills or enhance career opportunities. The best place to start is by visiting the City’s Personnel Department website for a bonanza of course offerings (you will need to use a City computer to access this site):

http://per.ci.la.ca.us/EmpDev/sCourse.htm

For those in management or preparing for it, the Frontline Supervision course is a must! Keeping up to date with and learning about current management techniques and practices is key to being a successful manager. This two-day course provides a broad overview of the principles of supervision. One of the best features of the course is that it presents different work place scenarios to help you understand how to apply certain principles to a real workplace setting.
Are you well-versed on the City’s Civil Service Rules? There’s a course and link for that here, too! While it’s a good idea to know these rules for your own benefit, expert knowledge of these Rules will help you land a good score on certain City job exams.

Does the thought of speaking before a large crowd leave you speechless? Does the thought of a static banking account and stagnant career path scare you even more? If so, you can overcome these fears by taking a Public Speaking course. Being able to deliver a speech, presentation or training session can greatly accelerate your career path, so why not enroll? At the very least, the goal of the course is to have you become a better public speaker than you were before; at most, you might discover your inner Tony Robbins.

Perhaps you’re looking to improve your time management skills? Don’t waste any more time, and sign up for a Time Management course today! Learn about the three keys to successful time management and how to eliminate time wasters. Mastering how to save time will help you make career gains.

These are just a few of the class resources offered by the City. In these times of shrinking budgets and possible layoffs, the time is now to take advantage of free offerings. Make sure to browse your Department’s training bulletins, which are usually issued via email. To sign up, you will need your Supervisor’s approval. Contact your department training office or personnel office for the latest class offerings.

For those of you in search of basic PC or software training, you won’t need to drain your bank account to get it. Explore the nifty link below:

http://events.lapl.org/

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