Life and Work in New Jersey

Additional content has been created to meet the demands of New Jersey's job market. The content is specifically tailored to highlight key New Jersey industries and address important life issues of jobseekers with special needs. This content is available to all users enrolled in the Workforce Learning Link Program at various sites around New Jersey. Open-captioned videos of all the Life and Work content are now available at all Workforce Learning Link sites to accommodate hearing-impaired learners.

The topics which are currently available at the sites are: Ex-Offenders Successfully Re-entering Society, High Tech in NJ, Jobs in Atlantic City, and Women in the Workforce. Each topic contains ten segments that vary in length from 4 to 8 minutes.

Ex-Offenders Successfully Re-entering Society
It really does take a village to prepare the whole person to be able to succeed in the world beyond prison walls. These segments provide insight into the challenges facing individuals who are or have been incarcerated. Individuals with first-hand experience share their stories of the destructive effect that their incarceration has had not only on themselves but on family members - especially on their children. The individuals featured in this series share a commitment to improving their lives and a willingness to improve their literacy levels, attitude and to learn new skills to break the cycle and to make it in the outside world.

High Tech in NJ
These segments spotlight the tech sector of New Jersey, which has often been referred to as the "Silicon Valley of the East." Each video offers practical career information on a wide-range of the technical jobs available across many industries in the State, from entry-level to professional.

Jobs in Atlantic City
These segments provide information on job opportunities in the casino and hotel industry. Jobs covered are: cook, bus greeter, slot cashier, parking cashiers, cook, front desk attendant, dealer, financial analyst, housekeeper, teleservice operators, and guest information attendant. Each segment provides a detailed job description, in addition to information on how to contact prospective employers, training, benefits, salary, tuition reimbursement, job qualifications, interviewing tips, and career advancement.

Women in the Workforce
The demands placed on working women today can seem overwhelming. There are a myriad of issues and obstacles that women in particular must contend with such as childcare and finding opportunities in non-traditional careers. The segments in this series give special attention to women who are coming off welfare and/or have low-level skills, mature women returning to the workforce, and female immigrants. Topics include the importance of learning and updating skills through training and education, workplace rights, dealing with stress and low self-esteem, recognizing transferable skills, understanding workplace culture, importance of computer literacy, ability to manage one's career, job search techniques, what it means to be a good employee, and more.