College of Marin unveils programs for job training

Marin workers who have lost their jobs due to the coronavirus pandemic or who want to retrain in a new career could get a boost from College of Marin.

The college is unveiling a set of accelerated 12-week career training programs for jobs in fields such as business office technology, data specialist, ecommerce, social media, small business management, web design and web development.

The online programs, which each lead to a skills certificate, will run from March 1 through May 28.

A session to discuss the new courses will be held from 5:30 to 7 p.m. Jan. 6. Registration is available at workforce.marin. edu.

Enrollment for the training begins Jan. 4.

Katheryn Horton, the college’s director of workforce programs, said the goal of the new accelerated courses “is to provide in-demand skills training that will help folks get new jobs or promotions in an evolving job market.”

Before rolling out the programs, college staff did extensive research in the local job market to see what was needed, she said.

“We dove into local labor market information, polled Marin business owners, met with Chamber of Commerce and Workforce Investment Board executives, as well as several directors of community-based service programs, to make sure we were hitting the mark on our offerings,” Horton said.

College spokesperson Nicole Cruz said recent labor market data from the state Employment Development Department, indicates that Marin’s most impacted industry sectors are hospitality, with 3,800 job losses; transportation and trade, with 2,000 losses; and professional services, with 1,200 losses.

“A growing number of laidoff workers across the U.S. in these hard-hit industries are switching to new careers or occupations,” Cruz said. “Many are transitioning to sectors that have thrived during the pandemic, such as technology, health care, real estate, banking and warehousing and delivery.”

Cruz said the college is also offering longer-term career certificates online. Those fields include business administration, accounting, entrepreneurship, computer information systems, real estate, hospitality management, graphic design, web development/design, game development, video/sound editing, 3D design, XR design, court reporting, machine metals and welding, early childhood education, administration of justice and auto repair.

The school’s health occupation trainings — for jobs such as medical and dental assistants, emergency medical technicians and nurses — also will be mostly online, with some required in-person lab times, Cruz said.

Enrollment for the semester-long programs is online at marin.edu/apply.