A pilot program that engaged the business community to train students to enter the work force is expanding this year, and the Chamber of Commerce is hoping to recruit more businesses that will hire and give better pay to graduates.

The chamber's Passport to the Future program, which began last year, is taking off again this year. Business leaders and teachers in the county's Career Research Development classes are encouraging high school students to put in the extra effort to make them more employable and worth more money on their first jobs.

The program asks students to provide three letters of recommendation from outside their families and a portfolio of aptitudes and goals, and to endure a rigorous hourlong interview with business owners.

It is part of the chamber's work-force development effort, and a response to business leaders' concerns about the attitudes and habits high school graduates and first-time employees were taking into the workplace.

But in the program's second year, in which organizers expect enrollment to more than double, it is up to the chamber to rally the business community behind its efforts, and encourage shop owners to hire youngsters with Passport credentials.

Getting the word out

Kara Calder, chamber president, said the group is forming a committee to help publicize the program among area employers.

"The benefit is to really build the business community of our future," Kalder said. "We hope to be part of recruiting hundreds of businesses."

Passport to the Future is offered to students enrolled in the county's Career Research Development courses, which seek to assess students' aptitude and improve their thinking, communication, interpersonal, technology and learning skills.

CRD helps students begin thinking about their future and what career paths they might take.

Practical instruction

The Passport program is voluntary, and students can sign up within their first CRD course.

Through the course of the year, students are encouraged to speak in complete sentences, give a firm handshake and conduct mock interviews. They also develop a personal portfolio that describes how they have accomplished their skills, and gathering those letters of recommendations from neighbors for whom they have baby-sat or walked the dog.

At the end of the school year, business leaders conduct lengthy interviews with Passport students, asking them situational and problem-solving questions, and judging them on their responses and how they have used those thinking, communication and other skills.

A big difference

Although the tasks sound simple, instructors and employers say they have seen a difference in Passport students - and at least one student said it helped her land her first job.

Brandi Seal said that without the training, she probably would have entered her first job interview with a weak handshake, no eye contact and short answers to the questions posed to her.

"I wouldn't even think how important a first impression is," she said. "After taking Passport, I learned how important eye contact is, especially when you're making a first impression. It's important to shake someone's hand and how you do it."

The course also gave her something more to talk about in her interview, she said.

"I told [the interviewers] I had gotten the Passport, and they were more interested," she said.

"When I told them I'd worked with people to teach me better skills and to be more efficient, they were more interested. It provided more to talk about."

Paying off

To some employers, those are differences worth dollars. Steve Girard, owner of the Bagel Bin, said he would pay more to students who have Passports because it saves him time interviewing and training.

"I can usually tell in two minutes [who I'll hire] because of the eye contact, firmness of the handshake," he said. "With a Passport [student], I can tell in 10 seconds."