TEDCenter Helps Retrain Individuals to Compete in the Job Market

Stephanie Mayne is the human-resources manager at M.S. Kennedy Corp., a company based in the town of Clay that has been designing and producing high-performance analog microelectronics for 40 years. As the HR manager, Mayne receives a flood of résumés for every job opening.

It’s easy for Mayne to determine what type of work ethic potential candidates possess; however, finding workers with the specific skills that will fit well with MS Kennedy’s requirements is sometimes a challenge. “We can assess whether or not a candidate has the basic capability to do the job,” says Mayne. “But it’s harder to gauge whether or not a person is going to be able to expand on those basic skills and adapt them to our unique processes.”

The Talent and Education Development Center (TEDCenter) at Syracuse University helps M.S. Kennedy and many other businesses in the Central New York region match qualified workers with job openings. TEDCenter, housed at University College (UC), is dedicated to improving the quality of the existing and emerging workforce in the Central New York region by bringing regional education, economic development, and workforce-development sectors into closer alignment. Its goal is to ensure that the education and training delivered to students, incumbent workers, and career changers provides them with the skills they need to achieve economic self-sufficiency.

Michael Prockup was an unemployed worker over the age of 50 who knew he needed to sharpen his skills to compete in a difficult job market. Prockup heard about the Unemployed Worker Training Program being offered at UC and was anxious to have his skills assessed. The Certificate of Workplace Competency tested Prockup in three key areas: reading, mathematics, and locating information through reviewing graphs, flowcharts, and diagrams.

“Having graduated with a B.S. degree more than 35 years ago, I was curious about how I would perform in the areas tested,” says Prockup. “In the 1970s there was no Internet and the method of instruction I received was very different than it is today.”

The Certificate of Workplace Competency shows employers that job candidates have the skills they need and is an excellent way for potential employees to showcase their abilities.

“Michael came to us with purchasing experience. By taking the skills assessment, he demonstrated that he wanted to keep up,” M.S. Kennedy’s Mayne says. “He is proactive and took charge to ensure us that he would stand out as a strong candidate.”

Mayne says that as a human-resources manager, her job is to find employees that will be successful at M.S. Kennedy. “If there are tools like those offered at the TEDCenter out there that can increase the level of employees we bring in, it makes us more competitive and successful. It also saves us money and time in the hiring process — interviewing, advertising, etc. It just makes good business sense,” she says.

Prockup was impressed that the staff of the TEDCenter assisted him with his job search by contacting prospective employers to endorse him as a candidate. “This was a major selling point to me as an unemployed worker over the age of 50 who had an uphill climb,” he says.

For more information about the TEDCenter or the Certificate of Workplace Competency, contact Karen DeJarnette at ksdejarn@syr.edu or Andrea German-Willis at ajgerman@syr.edu, or call (315) 443-5241.

Eileen T. Jevis is manager of public relations at University College of Syracuse University. Contact her at ejevis@uc.syr.edu or call (315) 443-3527.