College’s Job Center Schedules Orientation

Mission College’s One Stop Center, which teaches job skills to the unemployed, will hold orientation sessions for prospective students Tuesday and June 25.

The center, which trains students free of charge, recently received $785,000 from the county, which has enabled it to enter its fourth year of operation, said Ina Yates, Mission College spokeswoman.

Those eligible for training include unemployed workers older than 55, the long-term unemployed, displaced workers and workers younger than 21, according to the college.

Course subjects include business or computer technology, the food-service industry, drafting, electronics, engineering and plumbing.

“We also provide a variety of support services,” said Soni De Santis, human resources coordinator at the center.

The services include child care, transportation and referrals to family counseling, De Santis said.

Although the center is part of Mission College, it allows participants to study elsewhere.

“We provide training at any community college or occupational center,” De Santis said.

Courses usually last from 12 to 19 weeks, after which participants are expected to find work, De Santis said. Two hundred students completed course work during the 1997-98 academic year, and nearly 130 of them were placed in jobs, according to the school.

For more information, call (818) 837-2236.