The first in a five-part series of job searching skills classes Wednesday was a success, local library officials said.

Mendy Gunter, a spokeswoman for the Forsyth County Public Library system, said the networking and job search strategies class was well attended.

“We had a lot of people come out for this,” Gunter said. “Many of them said they would be very likely to attend our other programs later on.”

The free classes continue Sept. 2 with a how-to course on resume writing.

Ben Davis said he plans to attend the classes offered throughout the next two months. The Forsyth County resident enjoyed Wednesday’s session, praising the instructor’s “conversational” style of teaching.

Department of Labor employee Randy Walters shared insight with more than 50 people at the library’s Cumming branch.

“[Walters] is good at this,” Davis said midway through the course.

Davis was laid off his job three months ago and has since been sending out resumes in search of “something, anything.”

“I read a story about this class ... when I was looking in the classified ads for a job,” Davis said.

While teaching the course, Walters encouraged attendees to look at all available job listings.

“We’ve got to learn how to operate in this [recession],” Walters said. “There are opportunities out there. You’ve got to take charge of your job search.”

Walters’ next course is Sept. 2. The schedule for the other remaining 90-minute classes, all of which begin at 1 p.m. at the Cumming branch, is as follows:

• Sept. 16: Interviewing

• Sept. 30: Age is an asset

• Oct. 14: Choosing a career/identifying job skills

Registration is not necessary for any of the classes. The Cumming branch is at 585 Dahlonega Road.