NCWorks Career Centers assist job seekers in every step of the job search process. We provide a number of services and referrals at no charge to help you find a job:

• Through an NCWorks Career Center office, get assistance in putting your job search plan together.
• View job listings through NCWorks Online.
• Attend workshops on resume writing, interviewing skills, networking, social media and online applications.
• Obtain your National Career Readiness Certificate (NCRC), a portable credential that can be presented to employers to verify your skill levels in Math, Reading and Locating Information – the 3 areas most jobs require. Signed by the Governor, the CRC is a nationally recognized credential.
• Sign up for CareerReady 101, an online tutorial that provides training and practice exercises for the NCRC as well as fine tuning your workplace and behavioral skills.
• Use our computer resource room for Internet job search, completing online applications, writing cover letters and resumes and then e-mailing or faxing them to employers.
• Receive one-on-one computer assistance at any of our Career Lab locations around the area.
• Strengthen your computer skills with our interactive tutorials.
• Complete career assessments to learn what jobs you might be best suited for.
• Learn what jobs are in demand by employers in Western North Carolina and the training opportunities available to prepare for those jobs.
• Find out the average pay rates for various jobs in the area.

If we don’t offer a service you need, we can usually refer you to an agency, business or organization that does. At NC Works Career Centers, our customers come first! We look forward to seeing you soon.

To find a NC Works Career Center closest to you, click here.

Our career counselors can guide you through all of the necessary steps to get the job you want.

Career Training Services

If you are having a hard time deciding which career will enjoy and/or which career will fulfill your needs, our professional career counselors can help with:

• Information about wages, job demand, training requirements and local employers who are hiring in the career field that you prefer.
• Interest and abilities testing that will help you chose a career you will enjoy and help you measure the skills that have and focus on the skills you need to develop to succeed in that career.

Tuition Assistance

• Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act – will provide assistance with tuition, books & fees for eligible persons to attend community college curriculum courses (up to two years). Eligible persons include those who lose their jobs because of business closures, unemployed and underemployed adults, and youth from low income families.
• Trade Adjustment Assistance – will provide tuition, books, fees and other assistance for those persons who loose their jobs because of business closures that are the result of business relocation to other countries or closures resulting from foreign competition.
• Pell Grants and College Scholarships are available to persons who meet specific income guidelines.

Foundational Skills to Succeed

If you aren’t sure you have the skills you need to enroll in the training program you want, we can help determine your current skill levels and, if needed, help you build the skills you need.  Building your skills can be done in the classroom, over the internet or in a teacher assisted self-paced learning environment.

• WorkKeys® – A set of assessments that document your current skills in math, reading, locating Informaiton (using charts, graphs & gages), observation, listening, teamwork and writing.
• CareerReady 101® – an on-line learning system (using the WorkKeys Skill Areas) that students can use anytime anywhere they have high-speed Internet access.
• GED (General Equivalance Diploma) Classes – GED classes are offered in several locations throughout the region during the days and evenings.  Instruction is provided by A-B Tech and Blue Ridge Community College.

On-The-Job (OJT) Training

A program where an employer is paid 50% or more of a worker’s wages during a training period.  The job must be one that the participant does not have previous work experience with, or at an advanced level of work performed in the past.  In other words, you can’t be trained to do something you already know how to do.  To participate in this program you must live in Buncombe, Henderson, Madison, and Transylvania counties.  For more information, call our Business Services Representative at (828) 231-6611 OR (828) 251-7459.

Job Preparation Workshops

Getting the job you want requires more that technical skills, diplomas, certificates and experience.  Job Preparation skills workshops teach clients about finding jobs, completing job applications, social media, writing resumes and cover letters, presenting a positive image in an interview and meeting job expectations after you are hired.  These no cost workshops are exceptionally valuable in the process of entering the career you have chosen.