Class Cancellation: Quick Books 3 Monday, Sept 20, 9 AM

Ana was ill this morning (Monday, Sept. 20) and needed to cancel her Quick Books 3 class. She will however teach the class tomorrow morning (Tuesday, Sept 21)  at 9 AM.  If you were scheduled for the class, please check your calendars and hopefully tomorrow will work for you. If not and you need to re-schedule to another date, please call me at 630-906-4248.

Ana asked if the time can be changed to 10-12 on Tuesday 9/21.  I will call registered students regarding the change of day/time.

Judith

New Class: Social Networking (SN) for Business October 26

You've had enough Access? Are you all accounted for with Accounting? Then perhaps you might find "Social Networks for Business (SNB)" a tool you can use. The first SNB class will be held Tuesday, October 26 from 2-4, and will be taught by JoAnne Gerding.

Social Networking is a hot topic these days, from more social sites like Facebook and Twitter to those that have been developed to assist in career networking, such as Plaxo and LinkedIn. It seems like everybody is doing something with SN's. Here's a chance to see what they can do for you, or learn how they should NOT be used. You should bring a 'business' email address that you would not mind sharing with potential employers. Email addresses like 'hot4funparties.blahblah.com' or .Ihonkfordemocrats.blahblah.com' are not appropriate for a business environment, and if you have something that either suggests that all you do is party, or ties you to a specific church, political or other group, you should create a new address for resumes and SN sites. There are plenty of free email sites, like hotmail (hotmail.com), Google (gmail.com)  Comcast (comcast.net) orYahoo (yahoo.com), and it makes sense to keep your business and personal lives separate. I'd suggest gmail, since we often ask you to use Google tools, and it has a strong level of security. If you need help setting up a new email address, ask one of our instructors. Tips to keep in mind:

• Keep them as short as possible, since you may have to give them over the phone.
• Rather than first and last names, or first initial last name, consider some of each, such as josmam.blahblah.com instead of JohnSmithAmherst.blahblah.com
• DON'T use things that could help thieves steal your identity, such as parts of your address, social security number, birthdate, children's names, pets etc.
• The less identifiable the address, the better.
• Do NOT use any groups you like or are a part of, such as politcal groups, church groups, social groups etc. You do not want to turn-off a potential employer who may have different leanings. Your Bobloveswhitesox.blah.com might not impress a Cubs-loving employer.
• DO use the business email address you create on your resume and on any employment applications.
• DO keep the business address for employment purposes, and give Aunt Bertha your more social email address. Keeping your business mail separate from your social mail will make sure that you don't miss a potential job offer or reply.
• Most email addresses use lowercase as the default, so use 'josmam' instead of JoSmAm. 
• However, for PASSWORDS for your email, longer IS better, and a combination of random letters and numbers is better than all letters. Again, don't use anything that is identifiable to you, such as addresses, social security numbers, pet names etc.

New Class Added: Accounting 102

An Accounting 102 class has been added to the schedule, based on student request. The first class will be Tuesday, October 12, and will cover additional material not covered in Accounting 101. Ana Lotfe de Diaz will be teaching that class.

NEW Class Added! Microsoft Office Access 2007

We've added a Microsoft ACCESS class to the schedule, starting in October, in response to your requests. A new instructor, JoAnne Gerding, is starting in October as well. JoAnne has a wealth of instructional experience, and has worked at Waubonsee in the AELC and Workforce Development, as well as several other areas. She will be replacing David Adams, and will be bringing some new direction to the ACTC. Please welcome her to the instructional staff.

Microsoft Office Access, previously known as Microsoft Access, is a pseudo-relational database management system from Microsoft that combines the relational Microsoft Jet Database Engine with a graphical user interface and software-development tools. This program takes the spreadsheet concept to a relational database, allowing for sharing between pages and cells, and creation of forms for easier data entry. Experience in Excel or completion of Excel 101 and 102 are pre-requisites for the Access class. The first Access classes will be held October 26 and 28 from 11-1.

Microsoft Office Access 2007 Features

Thinking about taking Access? Here are some of the features of this program:

• Enter information into a data cell — just as you do in Microsoft Office Excel. When you enter a new value, Office Access 2007 automatically adds a new field and detects the data.
• Attach documents and files to your database  
• WYSIWYG: Office Access 2007 features a what-you-see-is-what-you-get (WYSIWYG) forms design interface. You can design and modify the form layout in real time on the screen — and preview your form as you build it.
• Interactive report browse:  The new report browse mode makes user reports more accessible. Use CTRL+F to find records, copy the data into other applications, and get to detailed records to edit the data.
• Revision history: New functionality enables you to track records and see who created, edited, and deleted records.
• Work with multivalue fields: Office Access 2007 supports complex data types, so you can create columns that accept more than one value in a cell. For example, if you assign a task to more than one person, you can include both names in the cell. 
• Quickly create tables: Office Access 2007 makes it easier to work directly within a datasheet to create and customize tables. Enter information into a data cell — just as you do in Microsoft Office Excel. When you enter a new value, Office Access 2007 automatically adds a new field and detects the data type (for example, date, number, or text). You can even paste Excel tables into a new datasheet, and Office Access 2007 will build all the fields and recognize the data types automatically.
•  Collect information through forms in e-mail or import data from external applications.

October Schedule now available

The OCTOBER ACTC schedule is now available. Highlights:

• NEW this month is Microsoft ACCESS, 11-1, October 26 and 28. A new instructor, Joanne Gerding, will be teaching this much requested class.
• Math Review: 11-1, October 8: many employers are requiring a math skills test prior to employment, this class is an opportunity to brush up on those skills.  
• Google Docs: 6-8, October 4 and 11-1 October 20: the newest method of sharing Office documents that you should know to give you an edge over other job applicants.
• Office 2007 Overview:  2-4, October 21: get a good sense of all Office products prior to taking individual classes.
• Absolutely Basics: 9-11 October 1, 11-1 October October 7: for those new to computers, or those who have a fear of computers, this is the class!
• Job Search 001: 6-8, October 29: Tips and Techniques for searching for a job online.
• Accounting 101, 9-11, October 12: If you have no previous experience with accounting, this class will give you the terms and vocabulary you need to succeed in Quick Books.

Please remember that the schedule is subject to changes/cancellations, so check the schedule prior to completing the ONLINE REGISTRATION.

Don't forget we will be CLOSED on Monday, October 11 in observance of Columbus Day.