Gaining Occupational Skills

Too many people consider college or university education as the only way to prepare for a career.

I observed a high guidance counselor one day. The counselor helped the students prepare plans to cater their education to prepare them for their chosen occupations. Before I continue with my story I want to state how much I respect high school guidance counselors. The have too much work to help too many students with too few resources. Most find themselves with case loads of 400+ students. Most deal with behavior and discipline issues, in addition to career guidance. So, I do not fault the counselor. I fault the system.

One of the students she met with that day, came alone, because both parents could not get off work. This student failed most of his classes, with one exception. He received an "A" for every auto shop class he took (and he had taken a lot). In spite of this evidence, the counselor encouraged the student to "get your grades up so you can get into college". The "school to work guidelines" allowing this young man to enter an automotive apprenticeship sat on the shelf, unused.

Once again, I do not fault the counselor for stressing a college career. College may not be the best path for every student. Obviously, this young man excelled at a more hands-on or psycho motor training. Training that worked with real objects using his hands. He did not excel at theory based, cognitive learning.

Fortunately, other methods of gaining occupational skills exist. We will briefly explore them this week.

• Formal school programs include state owned colleges & universities (University of Washington), private non-profit colleges and universities (Harvard or Brigham Young University), and private for-profit (or proprietary) colleges (University of Phoenix and ITT Technical). Universities, frequently called research institutions, focus their professors on research and "publish or perish". Community and junior colleges focus on education for students. Proprietary schools frequently charge more for the same degree. You must also ensure that their credits or degree are accepted by industry or other schools you wish to attend later.
• Apprenticeship or On-the-Job training involves a combination of learning by working side-by-side with a master tradesman while also taking classroom based training. Formal apprenticeships must be certified through the Department of Labor's Office of Apprenticeship. Informal apprenticeships may provide the same experience, but do not grant a certificate recognized throughout the country, as does the formal apprenticeship. On-the-job training occurs when a company hires an inexperienced person and provides the training to do the job. Many times other companies will not recognize on-the-job training provided by one company.
• Trade or technical schools specialize in classroom and work experience training within the school. One of the most common trade schools are cosmetology schools that teach how to cut, shape, and color hair; but also provide a work experience in the schools one salons. Trucking schools provide the same combination of classroom and on-the-road experience.
• Workshops, conference, & seminars allow for continuing education. Many corporations now offer seminars and workshops that provide people with certifications. They also provide opportunities to establish foundation skills with a product like People Soft, C#, and other programs or products.
• US Military provides great training for people out of high school. The training may include university degrees, technical training, and occupational skills. Plus, the military provides experience in a variety of fields.
  

You can learn more about post high school education and vocational training programs through these wonderful resources: Highland Public Schools, Chesterfield Schools, Wendy Sinton, Family Works, Trade Schools Guide, and Kids Turn Central. You can also learn a lot through these government sites: Office of Apprenticeship, State University.com, and the National Center for Educational Statistics.

Happy with Your Career?

At age nine, I decided I wanted to practice law. My father helped me get a job with a law firm while in high school. I failed miserably. I was not good and I did not like what lawyers did. Fortune smiled on me. Instead, I found the perfect career that brings me joy even after 30 years.

HOW TO FIND YOUR PERFECT CAREER

First, recognize that today's careers differ drastically from decades ago. You will change your career 5-6 times. You may change jobs every 3-5 years or less. So, you are not making a 30 year commitment to do only one thing.

Second, begin by exploring what you love to do. Dick Knowdell created two great exercises to help you. They are called the Motivated Skills Test and the Career Values Test. Print the results if you take them.

Another, easy and free, way to see if what you like to do matches certain careers is through the Career Interest Game at the University of Missouri. You can also take several other career tests through your local college career center, though you will usually have to pay.

I believe the best method (though the most strenuous) is found in Richard Nelson Bolles bestseller What Color is Your Parachute? (make sure you get the current edition). You can also discover other tests through Dick's web site JobHuntersBible.com.

Third, compare what you discovered about yourself with careers. You can use the O*Net Career Exploration Tools or the Department of Labor's excellent resource Occupational Outlook Handbook. In addition, talk to at least three people working in occupations that interest you. Explore what they like and do not like about their job. Discover what they really do, as compared to what you think they do.

You can discover the perfect job, if you work hard to find it. Once you find it, then begin preparing to achieve it. We'll discuss that next week.

After High School--What?

This month millions of youth graduated from high school. Commencement exercises rang with the promise of glorious futures full of meaning and success. Unfortunately, for most of those youth, the promise will not be fulfilled because they stop their education.

Over the next few weeks we will review how to prepare for a career. This week will discuss the consequences of not getting post high school training or education. Other topics we will explore together include how to:

1. Decide what career you wish to pursue--to ensure it makes you happy
2. Select the educational or vocational program that is right for you
3. Complete applications that wow admissions committees
4. Find the funding to pay for your continued education

The National Center Education Statistics declared in 2010 "The status dropout rate declined from 14 percent in 1980 to 8 percent in 2008. A significant part of this decline occurred between 2000 and 2008 (from 11 percent to 8 percent). Status dropout rates and changes in these rates over time differed by race/ethnicity. In general, the status dropout rates for Whites, Blacks, and Hispanics each declined between 1980 and 2008. However, in each year during that period, the status dropout rate was lower for Whites and Blacks than for Hispanics. " The good news: fewer students fail to graduate than in years past.

Unfortunately, most youth do not continue with further training. Once again, the National Center for Education Statistics states "Overall participation in adult education among individuals age 16 or older increased from 40 percent in 1995 to 46 percent in 2001 and then declined to 44 percent in 2005. In 2005, among the various types of adult education activities, individuals age 16 or older participated most in work-related courses (27 percent), followed by personal interest courses (21 percent), part-time college or university degree programs (5 percent), and other activities (3 percent)."

In other words, 66% of our high school students do not gain any additional training after high school. In the past, they had other options that would give them decent salaries and train them on-the-job. Too many factories have outsourced oversees. Too many mines now use robots and mechanical miners to save lives and cut costs. The ability for fathers and uncles to help nieces and nephews get into the trades has almost completely disappeared. The last vestige of decent wages for people with only a high school diploma was construction--and look what has happened to construction.

So, what jobs await high school graduates with no additional training or certification? Fast food, retail, and unskilled services. I offer the following as evidence: when I was younger the average age of fast food workers was 16-18. Now, ask yourself "How old are the average fast food workers that serve me today?" Your answer may include 18, late 20s, mid 30s, and even early 60s. I'm not against fast food or retail. I believe they provide very fulfilling work for a lot of people. However, I also note that a lot of people work fast food and retail, not because they love the work, but because it is all they can find.

Lack of post high school training condemns people to lives in poverty. Education is the key to advancement and opportunity. So, if you have a loved one that graduated this month, or if you are an adult who did not gain additional skills after high school, consider the advantages of further training. It need not be college, there are other wonderful opportunities, that we will explore next week. Please join us.

Launching "Larry on Careers"

Tonight launches my blog focusing exclusively on improving careers. We will share concepts about how to choose a career, prepare and gain skills to succeed in your chosen career, find a job faster, keep the job longer, receive bigger raises and better promotions.

My 33+ years helping more than half a million people enhance their satisfaction with their careers gives me some knowledge, experience, and insights that I will share. However, this blog will also rely on your comments. I encourage you to share your stories, frustrations, failures, and successes. The more people who share, the richer the content of the blog will be.

We will not restrict our discussions to one kind of career, nor to one salary level. We will explore blue, white, pink, and no collar careers. We will discover the joys and frustrations of many occupations--and how to increase the former while decreasing the latter. Our discussions will include ideas for low, middle, and upper income brackets. We will learn how to move from one income bracket to another. We will share ideas, for those millions who found themselves moving into poverty during this recession, about how to get back to where you were.

We will add a new post each week, usually in the middle of the week. Some posts will be long. Others will be short. Some posts will begin a discussion that may last 3-4 posts. Other posts will stand alone and cover the subject in one week.

In addition to "Larry on Careers", I will also start a post entitled "Larry on Business". That post will usually appear at the end of the week. It will explore how to grow a small-business. I invite business owners to follow that post beginning on Friday June 10.

I look forward to sharing ideas together on how to improve your career, or the career of someone you love.