Upskilling Our International Community

July 31, 2020

This post was written by Melanie Haber. Melanie is an incoming Junior at Drew University, majoring in International Relations with a concentration in Middle Eastern Studies. She has spent most of this summer interning at the Chamber because she believes in the expansion of education for all those who seek it.

Since its inception, Alhambra US Chamber has dedicated itself to bringing educational opportunities to students across the globe, and the pandemic hasn’t slowed the organization down. The creation of new virtual programming by the Chamber has already provided a very positive and lasting impact for the international community. One of the most exciting, recent programs launched is our new webinar series: Upskill Your Life and Career.

Upskill Your Life and Career is an entirely virtual offering, geared specifically towards international young adults. The webinar series gives these individuals access to necessary skills for personal and professional success in the United States. Every Tuesday and Thursday, students from almost 20 different countries tuned with us on Zoom. In four weeks, Upskill Your Life and Career webinars covered essential topics regarding self, academic, and professional development. Each webinar was led by a Chamber team member with relevant experience and passion for sharing that knowledge, as they brought the most updated and useful information to our international community.

Topics covered by the Upskill webinar series included networking, research and writing, acing Zoom interviews, resume/CV building, college application process, organizing time and tasks, career resources, and social media. We look forward to adding additional offerings to the series in the future. The series is designed to be client-serving and client-driven. If you have an idea for a topic, we’d love to hear about it.  

The positive feedback has been overwhelming! Attendees have been quick to respond to the project leads with their praises for the program. One student made a general comment describing the series as “so helpful”. While Ravindu Fonseka elaborated more and praised, “I am very much confident that this webinar [series] has upskilled my life and has educated me to pursue a successful career.”

We expected our audience to be international in nature. But to have regular attendees from countries as diverse as Brazil, France, India, Indonesia, Italy, Netherlands, Panama, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Syria, Taiwan, the United States, and Vietnam has been an enormously gratifying “proof of concept.” It shows not only the value of the webinar but how universal the need for them is right now. Above all, it is nice to know we are helping people.

These skills offered by Upskill Your Life and Career are especially valuable to help young people getting into the workforce. According to an article on Business News Daily, employers are now looking for employees that are willing to learn new skills. They said specifically, “Growth potential is an important quality in an employee, and a willingness to learn demonstrates that capability.” By taking initiative to learn new skills, these international young adults are not only gaining expertise, but are also showing their potential for growth to future employers.

The Chamber had already been moving in direction of emphasizing online offerings, but Managing Partner, Anjum Malik, explains that it suddenly became more important than ever. 

“So many things are on hold because of the coronavirus. I’m not just talking about classroom instruction but also many of the other activities that ambitious young people undertake to prepare for their futures: internships, test preparation, [and] extracurricular activities. In most places, these are not currently an option. The Upskill Your Life and Career webinars were something that could help fill that gap.”

Malik says this is only the first of many offerings forthcoming from the Chamber to promote professional, academic, and personal development for young people during the pandemic.

As one of the Project Leads for Upskill Your Life and Career, I am so proud to see how it is shaping the lives of the international community, especially during a time when many have been affected by large-scale challenges like the coronavirus pandemic. Expect this program to continue beyond four weeks and become a permanent webinar series at Alhambra US Chamber!

Click here for an archival link to information about the Chamber’s Upskill Your Life and Career webinar series.