City Trains Jobseekers for Demands of Today’s Economy

April 1, 2007 - For twenty-five years Julius Diaz worked at John Chatillon & Sons, a mechanical scales manufacturer in Kew Gardens, Queens, as a quality control inspector. When the company closed its factory in 2005, Diaz, 55-years-old at the time, was left without a job. Recognizing that the skills he had developed during his time with the company were less applicable to today’s economy, he went to the Queens Workforce1 Career Center.

"I didn’t even know how to turn on a computer," he said.

Working with a counselor at the Career Center, Diaz decided to use his unemployment benefits for a concentrated training program in computer technology. Diaz attended courses at ACE Computer Training Center in Forest Hills, and is now a COMPTIA Certified A+ and N+ technician. He is still taking courses in computer technology, and currently works at the CUNY School of Law in the IT department.

"It’s a great job with benefits," he said. "In some ways, this is the best thing that could have happened to me. I am 57 years old, and I have started a second career. I’m just happy that there was a program in place that could help me."

The Department of Small Business Services operates seven Workforce1 Career Centers in all five boroughs. These Centers provide jobseekers with a full array of employment services including job placement, career advisement, job search counseling, and skills training.

Click here for more information, or call 311 and ask for "Workforce1."