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'The Career Trail Online' will provide a wide variety of services aimed at connecting students with their first jobs as college graduates and serve as a resource for alumni.

MCLA Rolls Out New Career Development Platform

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NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The Center for Student Success and Engagement at Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts has launched a new, online career software portal to help prepare students for employment.

"The Career Trail Online" will provide a wide variety of services aimed at connecting students with their first jobs as college graduates and serve as a resource for alumni.

According to Dale Osef, MCLA's career development specialist, "The Career Trail," by Purple Briefcase, is a top-of-the-line, industry standard for connecting students to employers, faculty, staff, alumni and more.

"MCLA saw a need for a fresh, new approach to career development on our campus," Osef said. "The Career Trail gives us the right platform to engage all internal and external stakeholders in helping MCLA students to think about career development as a holistic process that corresponds directly with their academic experience here."

The Career Trail Online includes professional development training and assistance; a place to post resumes and search for jobs, as well as a place for employers to search for recent graduates; allows students to make career counseling appointments at CSSE; and provides ways for students to connect directly with MCLA alumni or an employer who is willing to be a mentor.



According to Osef, Career Trail will connect students not only to local, regional, and global employers, but also to others, such as faculty and alumni, who also can assist them with their job searches.

"One of many very exciting features of the Career Trail software is that employers large and small, near and far have easy access to this software. Students have the opportunity to connect with international employers like Wells Fargo, and also may apply to local organizations like Barton Associates and Berkshire Business Interns," Osef said.

In addition, The Career Trail comes with a mentor module, which is being sponsored this year by MCLA's Advancement Office. Approved mentors who are interested in connecting with students simply create an employer account and select how many students they wish to take on as mentees.

 The Career Trail also is available to all MCLA alumni, and serves students in all degree programs. For more information, click here. To view a short video about The Career Trail, click here.


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Clarksburg FinCom, Select Board Agree on $1.9M Town Operating Budget

By Tammy DanielsiBerkshires Staff
CLARKSBURG, Mass. — The town is looking at an operating budget of $1,859,413 for fiscal 2025, down a percent from this year largely because of debt falling off.
 
Town officials are projecting a total budget at about $5.1 million, however, the School Committee is not expected to approve a school budget for two more weeks so no final number has been determined.
 
Town officials said they've asked the school budget to come in at a 2 percent increase. Finance Committee member Carla Fosser asked what would happen if it was more than that. 
 
"Then we would need to make cuts," said Town Administrator Carl McKinney, adding, "I'm a product of that school. But at the same time, we have a town to run to and, you know, we're facing uncertain weather events. And our culverts are old, the roads are falling apart. ... ." 
 
The assessment to McCann Technical School is $363,220, down about $20,000 from this year.
 
The major increases on the town side are step and cost-of-living raises for employees (with the exception of the town clerk at her request), the addition of a highway laborer, an increase in hours from 16 to 24 for the town accountant, and insurance and benefits that are about $70,000. There is a slight increase for employee training and supplies such as postage.
 
Select Board Chair Robert Norcross at Wednesday's joint meeting with the Finance Committee, said the town's employees are hard-working and that wages aren't keeping up with inflaction.
 
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