Orange County Register

Thousands of Orange County workers who have been laid off or who fear they soon will be are facing the same question:  what’s next?

One option may be one of the broad range of courses at UCI Extension.  The school offers both professional certificate programs as well as individual classes to upgrade skills to make a worker more marketable.

Courses cover a variety of careers including business analyst, clinical trials, information technology, environmental management, finance and investor relations, paralegal, marketing and sales, and medical product development.

Workers have been taking advantage of the courses for 30 years, but with the recent downturn in the economy — Orange County lost 38,400 jobs in the 12 months since November 2007 — more people have been checking out the program.

“The uptick in interest started this past summer,” says Nancy Salzman, assistant director of business, management and legal education. “We’re starting to see people laid off from financial, banking, real estate and construction — students who thought they could transfer their skills.”

Many workers don’t realize that the skills they learned in one profession may be transferable into a field they never considered.

For instance,  Salzman notes the attention to detail required in handling mortgage transactions translates well into legal work. As a result, she says a lot of laid-off mortgage workers are now in UCI’s paralegal program.

Salzman says the school is intent on providing skills for jobs that are in demand. The staff closely monitors Department of Labor statistics about the jobs that are most in demand and develops classes to provide that training.

“We don’t develop and offer programs unless we think there are jobs,” Salzman says.

As a result, she says the school’s latest effort includes a variety of classes relating to energy efficiency, alternative energy and the expected growth in green industries, a field that is expected to grow under the Obama administration

Extension classes, which generally are taught by working professionals, are offered both online and on campus.  Typical classes run a quarter, although some accelerated programs may run on consecutive Thursdays and Fridays and a weekend.

Certificate programs generally require 15 units, with each class earning three or four units.

Winter quarter classes begin around the first week of January (Late registrants may be able to catch up on some of the online courses.) For more information, CLICK HERE or call 949-824-5414.

Need help coping with a job, paying bills, keeping the house? Check out the Register’s new blog, Handling Hard Times.

Check out our other economic meltdown news …

• Hines Horticulture bought by private equity firm
• Unisys lays off 40 in Mission Viejo
• O.C. companies face harshest climate in 4 years
• Rich shoppers were first to signal a pull back
• Tell us ‘Do big landlords deserve a bailout?’
• Big Orange retailers’ index at 4-year low
• The economy made me do it again!
• Moorlach predicts more municipal bankruptcies
• CSUF dean eyes no home-price rebound until 2011
• State agency halts affordable home lending programs
• Poll: Should retailers get sales tax holidays?
• O.C. real estate/finance jobs near 5-year low

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