CV-TEC Offers Career & Employment Opportunities

How do I find a job? What are the best ways to answer tough interview questions? What employment opportunities are available in Upstate New York? How do I make connections with professionals?

These are all questions that run through the minds of high school students as they prepare for their life after graduation. It can be a nerve-wracking and confusing experience. The CV-TEC team heard these concerns from students and created opportunities for them to connect with professionals and organizations in the region.

This year, CV-TEC hosted its second Annual ADK Career Connect at the SUNY Plattsburgh Field House. CV-TEC also created a second opportunity for students to connect with professionals by hosting a second ADK Career Connect at the Essex County Fairgrounds in Westport.

“We are targeting 9th through 12th graders, and many students have gotten jobs from the
connections they have made through these events,” Student Services Coordinator Sherry Snow said. “We added the Essex County event this year to meet the needs of employers’ who are farther away because it was hard for them to make it all the way to Plattsburgh.”

From the two events, 105 employers and organizations attended, such as BETA Technologies, Miner Institute, NYS Department of Labor, Plattsburgh Rehabilitation and Nursing, Mountain Lake PBS, NYS Police and Atlantic Testing Laboratories. Ten local school districts participated in the events and roughly 1,500 students attended.

ADK Career Connect hosted organizations from the following 16 Career Clusters. These are Agriculture; Food and Natural Resources; Architecture and Construction; Arts, Audio/Video Technology and Communications; Business; Management and Administration; Education and Training; Finance, Government and Public Administration; Health Science; Hospitality and Tourism; Human Services; Information Technology; Law, Public Safety, Corrections and Security; Manufacturing; Marketing, Sales and Service; Science Technology, Engineering and Mathematics; and Transportation, Distribution and Logistics.

“These events are all about exposure for the younger students,” Snow said. “It’s about
identifying career paths and companies that are aligned with their interest areas. It’s about securing opportunities like job placement, filling positions and post-secondary opportunities.”

With anticipation of these events, CV-TEC students were prepared to speak with potential employers. Students participated in two full weeks of a job-seeking workshop. Students created and updated their resumes with tips and feedback provided to them, and CV-TEC brought in Coryer Staffing to help assist with mock interviews.

“They had to create their elevator pitch, and we role played walking up to a table and introducing themselves, asking questions about what opportunities there are or about the company,” Snow explained. “Employers want to see that students are engaged and interested, and I think we did a great job at preparing our students for success with this event.”

To keep students engaged throughout the event, students were given a scavenger hunt card. They needed to go to three different companies in three different career clusters to put their name into a drawing.

“Something that simple makes a difference with engagement,” Snow said. “Also, on the back of each card, we provided specific questions they could ask, and this helped prepare them to speak confidently and comfortably with employers.”

According to Snow, employers gave great feedback about the event, saying students were engaged and positive.

Employers and organizations were also asked to provide an engaging activity at their station. Students experienced hands-on learning about a certain product or service the company provides through these activities. Some great hands-on opportunities for students were learning how to handcuff, using virtual reality goggles, seeing the stages of engineering and practicing electrical wiring.

“Our big goal is to help students secure employment, but it’s also about exploration,” Snow explained. “They need the knowledge of what they can do now that they have these skills and where they can go, and these events answer those questions.”

It’s part of CVES and CV-TEC’s mission to support students and communities to excel through high-quality education, training and shared services. The ADK Career Connect fairs provide a bridge between students and future employers. It gives individuals in our region an opportunity to come together for a common purpose and help each other achieve their goals: students needing jobs, and employers needing quality employees.

“I’m very proud of the events this year, and our sponsors were phenomenal,” Snow said.

Snow credited the following sponsors in helping make the two events possible: CFES Brilliant Pathways, Essex County, SUNY Plattsburgh, Adirondack Foundation, TDC, Brennan, TrailNorth Federal Credit Union, Della Auto Group, NYS of Opportunity Office for People with Developmental Disabilities, AES Northeast, Alstom, Fuller, Stewart’s Shops and Upstone Materials.

Looking to the future, Snow wants to create opportunities for community members to participate in ADK Career Connect fairs to provide further pathways of success for individuals in the North Country.

“We’re thrilled to turn the excitement of future possibilities into tangible opportunities for our students. Through events like the ADK Career Connect, we’re not just linking students with potential careers; we’re sparking their passion and connecting them with local organizations that are eager to invest in their success,” CV-TEC Director Michele Friedman said. “Together with our amazing community partners, we’re turning dreams into reality and setting the stage for students to step confidently into their futures.”

Read more from our Annual Report here.