Career Coaches - Student Mentoring Program

Welcome To Career Coaches 2012

2012-02-28T08:52:00.001-08:00

We created this site as a resource for the students we work with to referenence for information and materials that we discuss during our sessions. Our goal is to help you determine your goals for the future after high school, prepare for your interviews and help you on your way to success, whatever you decide your future career will be. To find out more about us, visit the About Career Coaches page.

We offer you our life lessons and experience in various industries, such as Travel, Finance, Real Estate, Printing and Internet Services. And for those who are interested, we will offer you the chance to shadow us and possible other professionals, so you get to experience "a day in the life"... which we hope will help you as you make your career choices.

Our sessions will go for 3 weeks beginning on on March 6, 2012. Class materials and agendas are available on the Session Materials page. We've also created a page of helpful links to help guide you along the way.

We hope you enjoy this program and feel comfortable sharing your feedback with us so we can improve in the future.

Career Coaches featured in Today's SI Advance!

2011-04-14T08:47:00.000-07:00

The Career Coaches finished their Second Season at McKee Vocational High School. We are so proud of our work there and are excited to have our second article published in the SI Advance.
Volunteers with Staten Island Career Coaches help McKee students fine-tune interview skills, resume preparation

McKee High School juniors Konrad Orzylowski and Mir Ali get help
from Career Coach Valarie Contrino. (Photo Courtesy of Joelle Grunblatt)

SI Career Coaches - Finishes a Second Year at McKee Tech

2011-03-25T13:28:00.000-07:00

The Staten Island Career Coaches celebrate a successful second season mentoring local students preparing for entry to the workforce.

Finding a first job is an important milestone in a young adult's life. Thanks to the SI Career Coaches, students at McKee Career Technical High School (CTHS) have a leg up on the competition.

For the second year in a row, SICC returned to McKee CTHS to mentor students on all aspects of the job search from building resumes to preparing for interviews.

In the 3-week series, upperclassmen at McKee CTHS worked with their coaches on the skills required to undergo a job interview. The sessions included hands-on resume writing and discussions on how students can conduct themselves professionally while on an interview.

This interactive program had the students working on MAC computers in their newly updated Graphics Lab, as well as attending mock one-on-one interviews with the business professionals and of course, Q&A sessions with each of the Coaches.

Senior Tyreek Penn Jr., a senior describes the SICC program as being “like boot camp, but not too intense. We start with the basics: how to talk to people, then we continue with how to communicate with potential employers and how to present ourselves.”

“I like hearing the (Coaches) stories, their experience and learning from them to apply to my own future,” says Penn. “Every interview I went on, I was offered the job. I also got accepted to four colleges and to a printing job, thanks to the skills the Coaches taught me! And, I enrolled in this year’s program to refresh all those skills.”

Senior David Cottle, who attended the program last year, shared his success with other students during one of the sessions, “(The program) helped me write my resume and helped to get my first job as a cashier at a local grocery store."

This year Cottle returned to the SICC for help with his interview skills. “The one-on-one interview part was the most enlightening, with focus on attention to details, such as sitting straight, wearing proper attire, giving an appropriate handshake, and of course having a positive attitude makes all the difference.”

Juniors Konrad Orzylowski and Mir Ali, were first-time attendees of the SICC program, and were positive that it would benefit them in their job-hunt. “It is great preparation for our future, helping us to write and to improve our resumes,” stated Orzylowski. “Also knowing what to do and how to conduct oneself during a job interview is crucial”.

“We all realized how valuable this experience was for both us and the students,” said Career Coach, Joelle Grunblatt. “We hope other business professionals will help us expand our reach so we can help more students become successful as they launch their careers.”
Any professional interested in volunteering with the Career Coaches should contact Valarie Contrino at valarie@contrinotravel.com.

Welcome to Career Coaches 2011

2011-02-21T07:13:00.000-08:00

We created this site as a resource for the students we work with to referenence for information and materials that we discuss during our sessions. Our goal is to help you determine your goals for the future after high school, prepare for your interviews and help you on your way to success, whatever you decide your future career will be. To find out more about us, visit the About Career Coaches page.

We offer you our life lessons and experience in various industries, such as Travel, Finance, Real Estate, Printing and Internet Services. And for those who are interested, we will offer you the chance to shadow us and possible other professionals, so you get to experience "a day in the life"... which we hope will help you as you make your career choices.

Our sessions will go for 3 -4 weeks beginning on on March 4, 2011. Class materials and agendas are available on the Session Materials page. We've also created a page of helpful links to help guide you along the way.
We hope you enjoy this program and feel comfortable sharing your feedback with us so we can improve in the future.

Career Coaches now Recruiting Volunteers!

2010-04-30T10:13:00.000-07:00

The Staten Island Career Coaches are seeking business professionals to help mentor local students preparing for entry to the workforce. They are are also looking for businesses that are interested in offering internship/job shadowing opportunities.

“The Career Coaches program is a great way for local businesses to give back to the community. And giving back does not always mean giving money.” says founding member, Valarie Contrino of Contrino Travel. “By donating your time and experience to this project you can give back and help young adults land their first job.”

“We coach students on highlighting their strengths. It was incredibly rewarding to see the students become more confident in their skills after each session,” says Career Coach, Carol DiMarco of CLR Printing Plus. One of Carol’s mentees even received an internship at CLR Printing as a result of this program.

“We all realized how valuable this experience was for both us and the students,” said Career Coach, Joelle Grunblatt of Northwestern Mutual Financial. “We hope other business professionals will help us expand our reach so we can help more students become successful as they launch their careers.”

Any professional interested in volunteering with the Career Coaches should contact Carol DiMarco at 718-667-7800 or email clrprint@verizon.net.

Career Coaches in the Staten Island Advance

2010-03-29T18:17:00.000-07:00

The Career Coaches finished their inaugural group of sessions at McKee Vocational High School. It was a wonderful experience for the students and coaches alike. We were fortunate to have Arianna Imperato, an intern from the Staten Island Advance come and interview us on our last day of sessions with the students.

Click here to read the article.