For many people, the first falling leaves evoke thoughts of school days and fresh beginnings. In 2020, perhaps more than usual, the start of the school season motivates people to reach beyond social distancing to expand their professional development skills.

Become a vital partner in the fight against the spread of COVID-19 in your community.

Governor Kate Brown and the Oregon Health Authority have both identified Contact Tracers as vital roles for county and city health departments to ensure the safe re-opening of business. Contact Tracers from all backgrounds are needed throughout Oregon to help track and monitor the spread of COVID-19. If you are interested in serving in this critical public health role, Portland Community College has a contact tracer course that will set you on the path.

Looking for professional development classes this fall? Our programming can help you improve your ability as an effective employee, which in turn may help you move into a new position or give you better insight and leadership skills so that you can guide the employees on your team more effectively. Some of the classes offered by PCC Professional Development and Training this fall: 

This year has made the world of real estate feel like it is on shifting sand, like so many other industries. As a real estate agent or real-estate-agent-in-training, you may feel that this is a particularly difficult year for you and worry about what the next few months may hold in the wake of COVID-19. The news is that people still need your services, but you may need to take special considerations and make preparations to create a successful real estate career in 2020 and beyond.

Despite the troubling economy, the real estate market in Portland remains strong due to a shortage of supply, recent transplants, and newly minted remote workers seeking to upgrade to a home with more room to spread out. Portland continues to experience a low vacancy rate around 2.3%, as well as the low interest rates that prompt investors to buy properties, which bodes well for the prosperity of the home rental sector. 

From first-time management roles up to C-suite executives, one of the challenges of leadership is experiencing more responsibility and as a result, more pressure. While your direct reports feel pressure from you to complete their work objectives, management up through the ranks have bigger goals to meet and less direct control over the outcome. It's important when implementing your leadership style to make sure you're maintaining balance even as things get stressful. These maintenance choices are part of what helps you ride the waves of pressure and come through stronger and more capable than before.

In your professional life, you've probably seen many people handling conflict poorly. There are so many ways to minimize or maximize conflict: escalating a situation with angry words, ignoring injustice and sweeping it under the rug, or even letting a situation unravel to the point where work cannot get done. 

As a budding entrepreneur or employee in the Portland real estate market, you know that there are many ways to run your business. One very important concept is to make your business choices in a way that is equity-informed. Many people believe they've fully considered the concepts of diversity and inclusion, but equity-informed businesses take this a step further and attempt to integrate equity into every aspect of their work.

While the diversity of thought and experience, as well as backgrounds and ethnicities, has been a hallmark of modern workplaces for decades now, many companies still experience uneven inclusion. Inclusivity is focused on making all diverse members of a team feel equally welcomed, valued, heard, and supported in their work. It is not enough to bring in employees who add diversity to the team if they feel ostracized or ignored in the workplace. 

A Child Development Associate certificate provides key foundational information for a career as a teacher or child care professional. Whether you want to be an assistant teacher in a preschool or run your own daycare center, understanding the wider scope of how children grow and develop is key to understanding the milestones children will reach while in your care.