Do you love cars?  Do you love Chryslers?
Have you ever considered becoming a mechanic?

Moraine Valley Community College
 is the place for you!
MVCC is the CAP
(Chrysler Apprenticeship Program) site to train DaimlerChrysler Technicians.  

For more information,
 call (708) 974-5713.

DID YOU KNOW?
80% of today's jobs require two years of community college education
 or less?
Source:  Illinois Association for Career and Technical Education

ILLINOIS TOP-10 "BEST BET" OCCUPATIONS

Registered Nurses
Office/Administrative Support Supervisors/Managers
Computer Programmers
Automotive Mechanics
Computer Support Specialists
Licensed Practical Nurses
Artists and Commercial Artists
Welders and Cutters
Machinists
Heating, Air Conditioning, Refrigeration Mechanics

THERE ARE CRITICAL LOCAL LABOR SHORTAGES IN THE FOLLOWING AREAS:

Recreation Therapy
Coding Specialist
Health Information Technology
Medical Transcription
Nursing
Phlebotomy
Radiologic (X-Ray) Technology
Respiratory Care
Travel and Tourism

       Source:  Illinois Department of Employment Security
                      Illinois Occupational Information Coordinating Committee

For individuals who qualify for disability support,
check out a Transition Planning website www.geocities.com/transitionquest

To be eligible for this program, students must:

For more information about the Jump Start program, call (708) 974-5355 or e-mail roselli@moraine.cc.il.us.

Moraine Valley Community College--
your partner in success.

Take a free college-level
class at Moraine Valley
Community College!

Moraine Valley is making it possible for area students to earn college credit while attending high school.  Through the "Jump Start" program, Moraine Valley is expanding its outstanding educational services and offering high school students the opportunity to take a free college-level class.  This special offer is good for one free class.

THIS MAKES CENTS!

MORAINE VALLEY COMMUNITY COLLEGE
OFFERS TECH PREP CREDIT FOR CERTAIN
HIGH SCHOOL COURSES.
IF A STUDENT EARNS
 A GRADE OF A "B" or "A"
IN THE FOLLOWING COURSES,
 THE STUDENT CAN USE THE COURSE or COURSE SEQUENCES FOR BOTH 
HIGH SCHOOL AND MVCC COLLEGE CREDIT:

BUSINESS

511S Introduction to Business and
538S Marketing and
533S Sales and Management 
(3 MVCC credits)

515S Keyboarding I and
516S Keyboarding II
(3 MVCC credits)

539S Computer Applications I and
535S Computer Applications II
(3 MVCC credits)

514F Accounting
(4 MVCC credits)

536S Computer Programming
(3 MVCC credits)

441S Internet Technology/Web
        Page Design          
(3 MVCC credits)

531F Word/Information Processing
(3 MVCC credits)

FAMILY AND CONSUMER SCIENCES

678F Child Development Lab
(3 MVCC credits)

671S Advanced Foods and Nutrition
(4 MVCC credits)

INDUSTRIAL TECHNOLOGY

433F Auto Mechanics
(3 MVCC credits)

448F Architectural Engineering
(3 MVCC credits)

449F Computer Aided Graphics
(3 MVCC credits)

440F Electricity/Electronics
(3 MVCC credits)

750F Independent Study/Electronics
(3 MVCC credits)

446F Engineering Concepts
(8 MVCC credits)

442F Computer Networking & 
        Internet Devices
(6 MVCC credits)

Call MVCC (708) 974-2110
for more information.

If someone you know needs GED info,
contact

CHICAGOLAND TRANSPORTATION
CAREER AND JOB FAIR
CHICAGO MOTOR SPEEDWAY
(interior grandstands)
3301 S. Laramie Avenue
Chicago, IL

COURT REPORTING/
VERBATIM TECHNOLOGY PROGRAM
OPEN HOUSE

SPRING SCHOLARS

A Unique
& challenging
opportunity for
Able & Ambitious
High School
Juniors & Seniors

If you are a Junior or Senior in the 2001-2002 school year; have successfully completed Algebra and some computer classes; and carry a 4.0 (B) cumulative average, consider enrolling in a tuition free course at DeVry.

You must submit an application with supporting documentation by Friday, February 22, 2002. For more information about SPRING SCHOLARS, call Joan M. Caton, High School Programs at 630-652-8205, or email at  jcaton@dpg.devry.edu

"Chicago Tribune" Career Events

AMERICALL
calling Shepard

BROOKFIELD ZOO
is looking for FRIENDLY and
ENERGETIC people to join its staff!

LOOK HERE FOR

UPCOMING EXCITING

 ENRICHMENT

EXPERIENCES!

For more upcoming enrichment and entertainment events, go to www.digitalcity.com

Get an edge on competition before school lets out

INSIDER

Tapping into your passions helps you locate true vocation

College students looking for exotic summer jobs won't be disappointed this season. Listings at job sites are offering travel, adventure, fun and sun for the young, unencumbered, or escapists among us. From teaching windsurfing on the Thudufushi Island in Maldives to being an au pair on the Italian island of Sardinia, there's no end to the global summer opportunities available.

Freshman and sophomores are freer to pursue cultural experiences during the summer break. But if you're a junior going into your senior year, it's time to hunker down and get a real job.

But today's students have other considerations besides how to make a little money and gain cultural enrichment during their summer breaks. In a red-hot job market that values youth and skill, graduates have the potential to make unprecedented starting salaries, as long as they can demonstrate experience in their field. According to the annual Job Outlook survey sponsored by Bethlehem, Pennsylvania-based National Association of College and Employers (NACE), one-third of newly hired candidates from the class of 1998-99 had cooperative work experience and more than half had participated in internships.

Consider the following average starting salaries posted by Job Outlook 2000 for bachelor's degree candidates: $43,367 for computer science; $45,045 for electrical engineering; and $34,356 for accounting.

The summer vacation has traditionally offered students the opportunity to refuel and relax after the intellectual rigors of the school year. But as the belt tightens around the labor supply, employers are increasingly drawing from the college market, according to the survey.

"More than half of employers responding to the Job Outlook 2000 survey say they plan to increase the number of new grads they hire this year, and overall hiring is expected to increase by 14.5 percent," notes Camille Luckenbaugh, NACE employment information manager.

Increased business and company growth were two reasons given by those planning to increase their college hiring this year. Another reason given was a shift in staffing strategy that places more emphasis on the college market. According to the survey results, the college market represents an opportunity to cultivate "hard-to-recruit talent."

But with such a tight labor pool, is previous experience really necessary for new graduates--particularly if they can be trained on the job?

Tight labor market or not, competition for the desirable positions is stiff, according to Carol Lyons, dean of the department of career services at Boston's Northeastern University.

"Employers still have a notion about hiring the best and the brightest," she says.

However, what constitutes the "best and the brightest" remains subjective, Lyons asserts. Is someone with a 4.0 grade average and no experience a better job candidate than someone with a 3.0 grade average and related work experience?

"I'm still not convinced that if a 3.0 student with work experience goes up against a 4.0 student without experience, that the student with the higher grade average won't get the job," says Lyons.

Nonetheless, Lyons feels that the act of taking a typical summer job as a lifeguard, landscaper, or waitress could come back to haunt you.

"The closer the job you take is related to the field you want to enter, the better. Remember that you're competing with other students who also want to get into the field," she says.

Undergraduate programs at Northeastern take five years to complete because students must attain a maximum of two years work cooperative experience in their academic field, Lyons explains. Experienced job candidates are "the reason why we have good relationships with employers," she says. "Internships and work cooperative programs are an absolute necessity in today's world," where a fast-paced work environment requires immediate ramp-up. Lynne Milburn, director of the career center at the University of Texas agrees.

"One out of every three students does an internship today," she notes. "Ten years ago only one out of thirty did an internship. The ideal student knows two languages, has traveled abroad, and has had three internships (by graduation)."

Survey results posted in Job Outlook 2000 shows that more than 82 percent of the responding employers offer at least one experiential education program, and more than 98 percent of those respondents said the programs are used to recruit for their work force. The employers said they considered the effectiveness of cooperative work and internship programs second only to on-campus recruiting.

So what about the opportunity to help with childcare on the island of Sardinia in a house that overlooks the Mediterranean Sea? Isn't the cultural experience just as valuable as working in an office environment?

"That cultural exposure is also important," Lyons says. "Everything we hear about that global economy is absolutely true. Any student benefits from cross-cultural experience: living in a foreign country, learning the language, experiencing the culture." According to Lyons, the key is in the timing. Freshman and sophomores are freer to pursue cultural experiences during the summer break. But if you're a junior going into your senior year, it's time to hunker down and get a real job.

"At the end of your college experience, if you can't show on your resume some really good work experience, you're just not going to be as competitive as all the other students," she says.

Putting the Right Spin on the Wrong Job
Let's face it. Not every student can afford to spend a summer working as an unpaid or poorly paid intern when landscaping and waiting tables potentially will pay better. Lyons suggests that those students translate the skills they develop into skills that are applicable to their field of study.

"For example," she offers, "if you're a business major who wants to get into general business or management, and you ran a painting business for the summer, then clearly you can take those skills to a business setting."

The responsibilities of keeping accounting records, hiring people, and marketing services all relate to business management, Lyons points out.

A student who spends the summer as a lifeguard could make "some easy transitions to any of the human services fields," Lyons suggests. "Being a lifeguard demonstrates your interest in working with people. But can you translate that into the accounting field? Not really. That would be a stretch." By the same token, she adds, flipping hamburgers all summer is not translatable to the nursing field.

Students who do need the summer months to make money should try taking internships during the school year as part of a course curriculum, Lyons recommends. She feels that students may find internships more easily this way.