Andre Hampton & Matthew Brown
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The Brookhaven College Center for Career Development will host a series of 10 soft skills workshops called Adulting 101 to teach students some of the skills they will need to function as independent adults. 

The workshops, which will be held on Thursdays throughout the semester from noon to 1 p.m. in Room S003, will explain how to communicate efficiently and avoid conflict in the workplace, how to stay motivated and keep a sense of direction, how to budget well and even pitfalls to avoid when renting apartments or houses.

“Things that we should learn in school, but they don’t really teach,” Jessica Elder, a career coach at the Center for Career Development, said.

Elder said she created the series after hearing a colleague from Southern Methodist University speak about a similar series she created for her students. Elder said, “I did a bit more research and I found [that] different libraries and schools and community centers, [are] also doing workshops like these.”

She said the Center for Career Development had given workshops on many of the topics in Adulting 101 before as part of its Soft Skills Series, but that they were not well-attended.

The series includes a workshop on how to create a personal budget, given by a staff member from the Financial Aid Office. Another, about how to stay competitive in the job market, will be geared toward students attending the Career Fair April 16, she said.

And if a student attends five or more workshops in the series, they can apply to earn a certificate in workforce or occupational skills, giving them a hard, résumé-ready credential to go with the soft skills covered by the workshops. 

Students will sign in at each workshop they attend, then contact the Career Development Center when they have been to enough to qualify for the certificate, Elder said.