Thanks to NECC’s College to Career Program, Mary Campbell of Methuen is training for a new career in computers.

Northern Essex Community College is currently recruiting students for a grant-funded program designed especially for unemployed and under-employed adults who want to prepare for careers in high demand technology and health care fields.

Students in the program can take advantage of the College to Career staff that will assist them with the college process, facilitate access to support services, and help them find a job when they have completed their certificate program. Certificates can be completed in as little as eight months, and the curriculum is strongly focused on the workplace, including an internship.

There are several certificate programs to choose from including health care, computer information sciences, and advanced manufacturing.

Mary Campbell of Methuen, who was a hairdresser for 30 years and most recently an administrative assistant, learned about the program at the ValleyWorks Career Center last fall and quickly enrolled. She will complete a Certificate in Help Desk Technology this fall, and has plans to continue on for an associate degree while working full-time.

Campbell is confident that her internship in the IT Department at Northern Essex will lead to a job troubleshooting computers and she is also interested in data management.

“”I never thought I would be at this point. It’s truly an amazing feeling,” she says.

The $20 million grant was awarded by the U.S. Department of Labor to the Massachusetts Community College System. As part of the Transformation Agenda, community colleges across the state are developing programs in targeted areas including life sciences and biotechnology, information technology, health care, clean energy, advanced manufacturing, and financial services and entrepreneurship.

For more information on the program, contact Renee Deyermond, college and career navigator, at 978 659-1223 or rdeyermond@necc.mass.edu.