Twelve years ago when Career Link started offering basic computer training to job seekers, clients 45 years old and older typically had no computer experience at all.
The skill levels of clients seeking computer training at Career Link has changed over the years, according to Pat Heinrichsohn, who retired as Career Link’s computer teacher on March 31.
In the early years, clients would often tell Heinrichsohn, “I’m terrified of computers. I tried to learn them before but I got so frustrated I have a mental block now.” Heinrichsohn’s first task was to reduce nervous feelings. “Day one was planned to make everyone go home saying, ‘This wasn’t so hard. Why was I so uptight?’” she said.
Today, older clients tend to be more familiar with computers. “They have some skills, but they don’t necessarily have the skills needed to work in an office,” Heinrichsohn said.
Young people are in a similar situation. “They know Facebook, they know all the social media, they know how to text,” she said. “But do they have the computer skills they need for the workforce? Many do not.”
Brodie D’Angio, who assumed Heinrichsohn’s computer teaching duties in April, plans to add social media courses to the menu of training options offered at Career Link’s Career Lab at 4511 Marine Avenue. In addition to the staple courses—Beginner Microsoft Word and Email and Internet—D’Angio will provide courses to help job seekers use social media in their employment search.
“I think now we’re moving to a place where employers will Google you, and you need to have an online presence that looks good to people,” D’Angio said, who has six years of experience as a computer technician.
Born and raised in Powell River, D’Angio studied psychology at the University of Victoria and graduated in 2011. He worked one summer delivering computer tutorials at Powell River Public Library and on Texada Island. He worked for two years at Powell River Microsystems.
“My vision is to give people skills to enhance their chances for employment and, once they’re employed, to enhance their skills for the workplace,” D’Angio said, adding that his role is to “bring polish and professionalism to people’s computer skills.”
One thing that hasn’t changed over the years is the demand for computer training. “The classes filled up,” Heinrichsohn recalled of the early years. In fact, many Powell River seniors wanted to take Career Link’s computer courses even though they weren’t job hunting. Heinrichsohn had to refer them to other services in town that provided basic computer training, at Vancouver Island University and Cranberry Seniors’ Centre.
Career Link’s mandate to teach job seekers basic computer skills allowed clients to write their own cover letters and update their own resumés without having to book an appointment with an employment counsellor, merely to change a reference or add a new job, Heinrichsohn said. As a former school teacher, she drew on her educator experience and helped adult learners master the complexities of document creation and file saving. “The key is to relate it to something they already know,” she said. For example, she would point to a file cabinet and ask clients to imagine the computer’s hard drive as a drawer. And she compared Google’s search engine to the local librarian who helps clients find a book.
Many Powell River residents learned how to open their first email account from Heinrichsohn. Newly retired, Heinrichsohn plans to spend less time on the computer keyboard and more time playing the new piano she just purchased.
At the Career Lab, D’Angio is open to new ideas. “If there’s an interest in a specific subject, we’ll consider putting on a course for it.” For computer workshop schedules, readers can go online.
