10 September, 2008

Maryland New Directions Offers Free Workshops To Help Employees Stay on the Job

Maryland New Directions (MND) is offering a free series of workshops this month to help unemployed and underemployed job seekers find and retain jobs. The Baltimore-based nonprofit career counseling and job placement agency will teach participants how to keep personal matters and emotions outside of the workplace in a workshop series called Boundary Setting, on Friday, September 19 from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., and again on Thursday, September 25 from 1p.m. to 3 p.m., at the organization’s 611 Park Avenue offices.  

“A form of workplace etiquette, effective boundaries can remove the emotional components from a job that often result in terminations and frustrated cries of ‘I quit,’” according to MND Executive Director Grace Lee. 

“Boundaries at work are all about defining where we end and where another person begins. People need to only take responsibility for their behavior, not someone else’s problems or behavior.”

She explained that problems can occur, for example, when a supervisor crosses workplace boundaries, and uses negative feedback such as verbal put-downs to correct job performance. Lee explained that the workshop   will teach participants to accept the corrections, but not the verbal abuse.  “You can’t change other people, but you can learn to take the emotion out of a situation and still keep the content of the message, if you want to hold on to your job.” 

Other workshops offered at MND this month include Interview Skills Training on Monday, September 15, 1 p.m. to 3 p.m., Thursday, September 18, 1 p.m. to 3 p.m., and a final Mock Interview on Thursday, September 25.  A five-week Intermediate Microsoft Office class will begin on Friday, September 26. Basic Microsoft Office Skills will begin in early October. Call Maryland New Directions at 410-230-0630 to register for more information and to register for classes. Participants must be single heads of households or seeking custody of children in Baltimore City. Maryland New Directions offers free and fee-based individual career counseling, job search assistance, G.E.D. preparation, support groups, and career path workshops.

For additional information about the services, contact MND at 410-230-0630.