Year-round Activities

• Job development and placement

• Job Readiness Training (JRT)

Summer 2006

• June

Annual Youth Event

• July – August

Summer employment with community based
organizations (CBOs) begins.
Summer internships with local businesses begin (successful completion of JRT required.)

• August

End-of-summer culminating event for CBO
participants at Camp Guyasuta

Fall 2006

• October

Fall employment with CBOs begins

• November

Cool Hot Jobs Workshop: Information Technology (Click for flyer)

Winter 2006-07

• January 19

Job Readiness Training

• February 2

Job Shadow Day in conjunction with Ground Hog Day & National Job Shadow Day (Click here for Photos)

Spring 2007

• March – May

Youth recruitment for summer employment

• March

Recruitment for Internship Opportunity: Life Guard Allegheny County or City of Pittsburgh (Click for Flyer)

• March 10

Job Readiness Training for Interns (9am - 4pm)

Youth Employment and Internship Program
YouthWorks helps ensure that youth gain initial work experiences in their communities, which provide supportive environments while also maintaining high standards. These programs enable youth to develop foundational workplace skills while providing them work experiences that include training, career exploration and immediate income.

Jobs in Community Based Organizations
YouthWorks provides initial work experiences to youth at community based organizations (CBOs) right in their own communities. This CBO placement provides a supportive first work environment for at-risk youth while also maintaining high standards and expectations, ensuring that youth gain needed skills and self-confidence. These programs enable youth to develop foundational workplace skills while providing them work experiences that include training and career exploration.

Jobs in the Public and Private Sector
YouthWorks has two approaches to job development. One is done in coordination with the Pittsburgh and Allegheny County East CareerLink Center hubs. The other is to develop internships, which aim to provide youth with career exploration and exposure. Through YouthWorks’ partnership with CareerLink, we have been able to increase job search assistance to youth job seekers. Such assistance includes but is not limited to developing an electronic resume, registering online with CareerLink, and job coaching.

Job Readiness Training
Job Readiness Training (JRT) prepares youth ages 16-25 to apply for a number of private sector jobs or to be referred to internships. Participants learn how to prepare a resume, interviewing skills, employer expectations, appropriate workplace conduct, and communicating with employers. This training is free. (See our list of Participating Employers to see which companies and organizations have hired our youth in the past.)

Note: YouthWorks is currently partnering with CareerLink to develop employment opportunities for area youth . In addition to workshops at YouthWorks, future JRT sessions will be held at the Pittsburgh and Forest Hills CareerLink offices. Please call the YouthWorks office (412) 281-6629 for more information or visit www.careerlinkpittsburgh.com for locations and to apply for jobs.

Cool Hot Jobs
YouthWorks conducts workshops to provide youth with information on career development, financial aid, college, personal budgeting, & other related life skills and career planning information. There is no fee for this service. For more information, please contact Deb Rock at 412.281.6629 x221 or drock@youthworksinc.org.

Worksite visits, Job Tours, and Job Shadowing
These career voyages provide exposure to various career options, particularly those identified as career clusters in demand within Southwestern Pennsylvania. These career exploration experiences are critical to help youth envision and “see” themselves in a career. Participants will learn important information on the type of educational needed, the details of job performance, and salary expectations. Additionally, this component helps youth gain practical knowledge about careers, enabling youth to test their interests. There is no fee for this service. For more information, please contact Deb Rock at 412.281.6629 x221 or drock@youthworksinc.org.

Job Shadow Day
Every February on Ground Hog Day, youth in Allegheny County get a glimpse the careers of their dreams. In conjunction with National Job Shadow Day, YouthWorks provides area youth an opportunity to shadow professionals to give them an up close and personal look at careers to inspire them. For more information, please contact Deb Rock at 412.281.6629 x221 or drock@youthworksinc.org.

Youth Workforce Development Conference
The 2nd annual Youth Workforce Development Conference, presented jointly by YouthWorks and Urban Youth Action, will be held on Friday, April 27, 2007.  The conference theme is:  Connecting the Dots: Converging Resource for Tomorrow’s Workforce. A new addition is the Youth Career Fair on Saturday, April 28th, co-sponsored by YouthLINK. Both events will be held at the Omni William Penn Hotel.  Youth workforce development professionals, educators and community leaders are invited to submit proposals for workshop presentations.  Contact: Karen Bryant, 412.281.6629 x213 or kjbryant@youthworksinc.com