Virginia Peninsula Community College staff have been working diligently behind the scenes to provide students with more tools to explore career information, options and opportunities. The results are a pair of websites designed to simplify the process. One went live a few weeks ago and the other should be live by the end of this month.
In a March 13 email sent to students and staff, Angela Robinson, the executive assistant and project manager for Academic Affairs, said the College is participating in a VCCS‑wide rollout of the Work-Based Learning Tracking System (WTS).
“It’s a new, centralized platform designed to equip every VCCS student with access to meaningful work-based learning opportunities, including internships and apprenticeships,” Robinson said.
The platform provides easier and more up-to-date information to college officials and students, as well as helping employers find qualified candidates to fill those positions. Students and employers can explore the College’s work-based learning opportunities and access the WTS portal here.
Kim Phillips, the apprenticeship coordinator for Workforce Development at the College, said more than 30 students had registered in the first two weeks.
“I’m excited about how many students have already jumped on board. It demonstrates that it is a much-needed tool for our students,” she said.
She equated their expressing interest to raising their hand in class to say, “Hey, I would love an internship, here is my area of study.’ They can load their resume immediately.
That interest also tells Phillips which employers the College needs to contact to fill those positions.
“It helps prioritize which industries that we need to pursue for partnerships,” she said.
The interest on the employer side has been just as exciting. Phillips has heard from more than half a dozen businesses and organizations, including two car dealerships, one law firm, a welding shop owner, a county entity and a non-profit, which might be able to offer multiple opportunities.
“It’s a great marketing tool for our employee partners and exposes them to potential employees who are educated and eager to work,” she said.
She’s optimistic this program will catch on and quickly grow.
“It is the perfect platform to showcase our students and emphasizes the value of work-based learning,” she said. “It also expands the visibility of employer opportunities at VPCC, helping employers find candidates faster.”
The platform that is expected to be live by the end of the month is called Lightcast. It provides labor market statistics and analysis. It shows the degrees required for a particular field, the average pay, whether it’s a growing industry and more.
“It covers a lot of information, and it’s based on the labor data,” said Seth Fisher, director of advising at VPCC. “It’s constantly updated.”
There’s a section that lists the jobs available for each degree. Students can search for job openings by location and apply right off the website.
“It takes them right to where they can apply,” Fisher said. “We don’t have anything that takes them right to something they can apply to, especially right off our websites.”
The site also shows the degrees and programs VPCC offers. It lists the level of education needed, and the hard skills and soft skills a particular field would value.
There’s a section that helps in building a resume. And for those undecided about a career path, there’s also help. It offers suggestions depending on answers to a survey.
This program will be available to students on the academic and non-academic side. It’s also open to alumni and prospective students. Trained by Lightcast, VPCC representatives will be available to help students at campuses in Hampton and the Historic Triangle in Williamsburg, the Southeast Center in Newport News, and Hampton’s Peninsula Workforce Development Center.
“I’m super excited. This is going to be a great connection to the WTS,” Fisher said. “This is another way where you can get a job.”
For information on Lightcast, contact Fisher at fishers@vpcc.edu. For more on WTS, email Phillips at phillipsk@vpcc.edu or call her at 757-825-3808.
