Life at a Job Corps center is both exciting and educational. A Job Corps center is a great place to complete an education, learn a marketable trade, make lifetime friends and graduate with a good job in hand. Each Job Corps center is unique. However, they are all campus-like settings and most feature student dormitories and dining facilities.

Job Corps provides its students with guidance and support to achieve long-term employment success. The student life "cycle" features four phases:

• Outreach and Admissions (OA)
• Career Preparation Period (CPP)
• Career Development Period (CDP)
• Career Transition Period (CTP)

Outreach and Admissions (OA)
During this initial phase, prospective students learn:

• What Job Corps is
• How Job Corps can help them start a career
• What learning and working at a Job Corps center will be like
• What their student responsibilities are
• What on-center vocational offerings are available

Career Preparation Period (CPP):
During the first 60 days at a Job Corps center:

• Students learn, practice and demonstrate the personal responsibility skills required at a workplace.
• Students learn, practice and demonstrate job search skills including computer fluency.
• Students and staff create a personal career development plan (PCDP).
• Students and staff commit to the PCDP.
• Students become acquainted with One Stop centers.

Career Development Period (CDP)
With the help of center staff and employers, the student learns, demonstrates and practices industry-related:

• Technical and academic skills
• Interpersonal communication and problem solving skills
• Social and personal management skills

The student then:

• Begins the job search process
• Prepares for independent living

Career Transition Period (CTP)
The former student, now a Job Corps graduate:

• Gets their first job
• Locates living accommodations, transportation and family support resources
• Continues to contact Job Corps service providers for support if needed
• Responds to three, six and 12-month survey requests