Melissa was a middle school teacher for 20 years before she became an instructional facilitator who helps kids who need additional resources and support. She loves the job, but pending local and state budget cuts are making her position precarious, and she wants to do something new.
“The education system is changing, and it is a lot harder to sustain this career,” she said. “So I’m going to have to either go back into the classroom or take a leap. And Calbright helps me take that leap.”
Melissa, who lives in Modesto, wants to shift her career into human resources – commonly called HR – and a co-worker told her that Calbright is now offering a certificate program in it.
“I totally stumbled on Calbright, and once I did I was like: ‘Oh, this is amazing!’ It’s so much easier to upskill than to go all the way back to college and pay tuition,” Melissa said. “I feel confident that with my experience I can transfer into a role in HR learning and development, but I needed a bit of a boost to learn the terminology, the ins and outs of the profession, the jargon and the structure. And that foundational structure is what Calbright is able to give me. The fact that it’s free is an absolute bonus. It’s great.”
Calbright’s education and training is also, she emphasized, “not fluff.”
“It blows my mind, truthfully, so I tell everybody. I’m like: ‘Oh, there’s this program at Calbright College, you should do this!’ or ‘You’re thinking about leaving your job or expanding your professional skill set, you should try this!’ Because if you’re going to give your time, which is such a precious commodity, the program needs to be worthwhile and valuable in order to move you in a direction that you want to go to meet your goals and help you establish the future that you want. And this course, this whole program does that.”
