CPS and Directions Training Team Up for 3rd Job Shadow Day

CHICAGO - Dec. 8, 2015 - PRLog -- Employees from Directions Training, a Chicago-based IT and professional development training company, spent the morning of December 2^nd discussing job skills with 22 Chicago Public School (CPS) students. The job skills of focus included writing a résumé, interview techniques, marketing practices, Microsoft Excel, and website development.

At Directions’ Chicago location (208 S. LaSalle Street) CPS students braved the snow and arrived at 9:00am. All 22 students were greeted by HR Coordinator, Lauren Didier; Marketing Manager, Halie Stinson; Marketing Coordinator, Courtney Quinn; and Operations/IT Support personnel, Dylan Negangard.

After a light breakfast, the students briefly introduced themselves and shared their career aspirations. Then, Didier gave an overview of Directions Training, a woman-owned small business (WOSB), highlighting the milestones and successes of its nearly 25-year legacy.

Following this, the large group divided into three small groups and rotated through three job skill training sessions: interviewing and résumé training, marketing and web development training, and Microsoft Excel training.

To provide hands-on web development training, Stinson and Quinn introduced students to Code.org, the organization behind the global initiative, “Hour of Code.” Code.org has teamed up with Microsoft to debunk the myth that writing coding is difficult. Playing a modified version of the popular Minecraft game, the 22 CPS students got to experience just how easy coding can be and got a sneak peek at the highly anticipated Hour of Code events that will take place at their schools (and throughout the world) during the week of December 7^th – 11^th. (For more information about Hour of Code, click here (https://hourofcode.com/us).)

Around noon, everyone took time to enjoy lunch from Alonti and the Directions’ staff opened the floor to student questions.

This was Directions third year participating in a CPS job shadow day.