It's that age-old question: How do you get a job that requires experience when you need a job to get the experience?

In response to that dilemma, Auction Inn has developed WORK-ABLE , a first-time job skills training program that enables graduates to enter the job market with confidence in their ability to succeed in a competitive world and the real-world experience that employers so often require. Armed with the tools they master in the WORK-ABLE curriculum, our students can navigate the often difficult and confusing process of finding a job and go on to write their own personal success stories.

Designed to stand alone, the WORK-ABLE Program also builds on and supplements the Job Ready! Career Prep Program developed by the Boys & Girls Clubs of America. The goal of the WORK-ABLE Program is to prepare young people to become independent adults. Thus, the Program includes units on Office Protocol, Business Ethics, Employer Expectations, Goal Setting, Personal Financial Responsibility including managing bank accounts and household budgeting, Social Interactive Skills, Problem-Solving, Anger Management, and Personality Analysis of strengths and weaknesses.

WORK-ABLE trainees are employed at Auction Inn in such areas as:

•  Customer Service

•  Digital Photography

•  Inventory Control and Management

•  Product Research Techniques

•  Online Auction Procedures

•  Packing and Shipping to UPS Standards

•  Accounting and Proprietary Software

•  Marketing and Public Relations

•  Multimedia Production

Success in each area is rewarded with a Certificate of Proficiency that can be presented as evidence of skills mastered in the Program. These Certificates provide valuable information that greatly enhances a first-time job seeker's resume, assuring a prospective employer of a certain level of competency already acquired by that applicant. And that can make all the difference when there are multiple applicants for a position.

The WORK-ABLE Curriculum is the result of a collaboration of many Auction Inn corporate partners, including QVC, UPS, BOSCH, and Manheim Auto Auction as well as organizations such as The Boys & Girls Club, and Teen Challenge. The scope and sequence was designed with the idea that we should assume nothing. Thus the program covers topics such as how to dress, how to address peers and supervisors, how to approach customers, the importance of being punctual, reporting-off procedures and policies, and answering the telephone.

As the program participants become more comfortable with the workplace environment, we go on to subjects such as Ethics and Honesty, Personality Analysis and Interpersonal Relationships, Anger Management, Conflict Resolution, and Goal Setting. We introduce them to the art and science of succeeding in the workplace.

Recognizing that success involves more than getting along at work, we are planning units on areas of personal life skills that are often overlooked by Training Programs. These include Managing Your Money, opening and maintaining bank accounts and personal budgeting; and Becoming a Responsible Citizen, covering areas such as selective service registration, driver training, voter registration, tax recordkeeping, etc.

We recognize the enormity of the ambitious goal we have set for our WORK-ABLE Program, but a comprehensive training curriculum that deals with all major areas of life will result in a new generation of skilled, confident, ethical young people who will prove to be assets to the companies that hire them, and society at large. We here at Auction Inn are excited about the prospect of contributing to the success of our young citizens of tomorrow.