The DCMO BOCES Career Destinations Program responds to the need to retain our youth with career and job opportunities with our local employers.  This proactive initiative has the potential of improving, or reversing, the negative population decline trend and opens new doors for educators, parents, and industry leaders to work together to impact our future.  This electronic page is our portal to improve communications and for all partners to communicate and share all the opportunities available for students to identify local jobs, career opportunities, and partnerships to help them succeed.

Grooming the workforce of the future is one of the best investments we can make to build strong communities.  Every opportunity employers can offer our students, helps the Career Destinations program achieve the goal of connecting these young people to exciting local careers.  Business partners can offer many opportunities to our students like:

• Internships or Shadowing Opportunities
• Work-Based Learning Experiences
• Scholarships 
• Company Funded Tuition for Higher Education 
• Participation in Advisory Council
• Presentations in the Classroom
• Consulting Services for Educators to Improve Job Preparation
• Donation of Equipment or Senior Staff Time To Train Students

School educators play a relevant role.  Your daily interactions with students and your experience working with their talents and challenges make you the best person to influence, guide, and support young people in the search for the best career destination.

School Champions support the Career Exploration Program with the following tasks:

• Influence students to participate and explore opportunities with the Career Destinations programs

• Connect at the personal level with students to coach them and help them complete their career plans

• Communicate with students to understand their needs and identify school resources to help them achieve their goals

• Meet with the Career Exploration Coordinator to suggest approaches to improve students resources

• Participate in Career Exploration Programs to learn about industry job and career opportunities

• Serve as Ambassadors to engage other school staff with the implementation of the program 

• Delaware Bulldozing Corporation
• SFCU
• Action Lube Soda Jerks
• Cullman Center
• ARC Otsego

To support local employers’ critical recruitment needs, DCMO BOCES hosted a Job Fair.  The event, held at the Alan D Pole (ADP) campus, gathered 62 employers and 4 higher education institutions.  Director of Career & Technical Education (CTE), Jennifer Waite, commented on the event’s goals, “Events like this one support the Career Destinations efforts to retain our graduates with work opportunities in our region.  Such events took place virtually during the COVID pandemic.  It is exciting to bring everyone together to learn about the many opportunities available.”

Collectively, employers shared information on hundreds of full-time, part-time, and seasonal employment opportunities.  According to Event Coordinator  Sonnet Constable, approximately half of the students attending will get seasonal, part-time, or full-time employment from the connections made at the Job Fair.  “The ADP Job Fair is a great opportunity for our students to see what employment opportunities are available in our area.  So many of our business partners are looking for employees trained with the skills our students have, so it's a great way for the two parties to meet and network.  It also gives our students practice in employment skills.  As part of the CTE program, all students create resumes, cover letters, and thank you letters, as well as practice interviewing skills.  The ADP Job Fair is an extension of that learning experience,” said Constable

The post-event survey comments tell us that personal interaction with students is a valuable opportunity to identify potential candidates.  A similar event will be hosted at the Harrold Campus in Sidney Center on May 4, 2022, to benefit students in the eastern region.   Recognizing the involvement and support from those who participated, Constable said, “ Our business partners are incredible and really go out of their way to make the ADP Job Fair a positive experience for our students.  I would like to thank the businesses that participated.”

Businesses interested in joining the Harrold Campus job fair can email Donielle Jordan at [email protected].