Free Computer Classes Help Residents Find Work

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, almost 10% of the United States population is unemployed. A free program is helping local residents learn new skills so they can re-join the workforce.

WHIZ’s Katie Jeffries has the story.

Computer skills can make or break a person when applying for a job.

“Your not going to be applying for any job today that you don’t have to have some type of computer skills, your cash registers are computerized, so you have to know a little bit about computers,” says Vicki Bateman the employment training coordinator for Experience Works.

With major factory lay offs and rural farmers having to join the commercial workforce, more and more people who never needed to use computers before are having to learn from scratch. The Experience Works program and Muskingum County Opportunity Center are offering free computer classes to anyone who wants to learn computer basics.

“It is very basic computer skills. They learn how to turn on the computer, they learn a little bit of word, they learn a little bit of the Internet,” says Bateman.

The classes make all the difference to people like Sharon Newton. She worked for the City of Zanesville for 27 years before she lost her job due to health reasons. She says one of the first things prospective employers ask is if she has computer skills.

“I learned how to make work sheets, how to use excel for your formulas, setting up a tabulation where you can put formulas in and it saves time and money in the work place. He (the teacher) taught us basics about Microsoft Works and that is extremely important when you do essays and write letters and things for business,” says Sharon Newton.

Sharon is currently training with Experience Works and even taking classes at Zane State. The next set of computer classes will begin September 24th and run six to eight weeks. Vicki Bateman says the difference between when people begin the class and when they end is like night and day.

“They are not afraid to get on there and look for a job. We even set them up with an email address that they can actually attach to their resume and send it out to an employer and that is something that they did not know when they first walked in the door,” tells Bateman.

To sign-up for the free computer classes call 740-454-6211 or stop by the Muskingum County Opportunity Center.

Katie Jeffries
KJeffries@whizmediagroup.com