Community college, universities, or specialized schools – what works for you?

You’re ready to take the next step for finding and learning about your medical career; now, what sort of school should you attend? There are several types of post-secondary institutions that offer different types of education. Before you decide on where to go, ask yourself these questions:

• What sort of career are you aiming for? Different careers require different levels of schooling. For example, you can’t become a doctor by attending a community college, but you can become a nursing assistant or acquire skills in the medical field itself. You can also transfer your credits to a university later on down the road and achieve your dream of becoming a doctor.

• What kind of learner are you? How you learn will determine what kind of education you will need. People who do better in an auditory/visual environment might prefer the academic environment of university. People who are more hands-on may do better in a community college or technical school environment.

• What can you afford? Tradition-al universities are often much more expensive than colleges. However, community colleges are often better for preparing for university, and you can transfer credits if the institution is accredited.

Once you’ve asked yourself these questions, you can start to research institutions. They basically fall into three main categories:

• Universities. These schools are traditional colleges, giving out degrees in disciplines such as English, Humanities, Arts and Sciences. They tend to be generalized degrees, incorporating a large spectrum of careers and education. You can take nursing, medicine, physical therapy or chiropractics.

• Community Colleges. These schools tend to be much more technical, teaching their students exactly what they need to know for specific careers. Mechanics, people in the nursing field, and medical assistants would go to a school like this. Specialized education will prepare you for a career by giving you lots of hands-on experience. They also may provide distance education in a variety of disciplines and even special interest classes.

• Technical or trade schools. These schools are extremely specialized – electricians, plumbers, welders, etc. will receive their education at these schools. There, they will learn their trade, make contacts and apprentice to further their careers.

Whatever you choose, make sure to do your research and make sure that your diploma or degree will serve you well in the working world.

John Ratzenberger, still most famous as postman Cliff Clavin on Cheers, spoke recently at the Log Cabin, a banquet and meeting house in Holyoake Mass., to advocate the value of skilled trades.

Ratzenberger, speaking to a group of local businesses, lamented that skilled trades are getting left behind by society and discounted as a career option by too many young people.  He asked employers at the meeting to take on groups of teenagers for summer camps internships that would teach them skills.

“Everything we are and everything we do, every single day depends on one person’s ability to put a nut and a bolt together. That is the most important job in America and we’re losing it,” Ratzenberger told the crowd. He added that the value placed on “working with your hands is dying” and that this can be a great way to learn some common sense.

You can watch Ratzenberger’s address below:

Cliff Clavin and John Ratzenberger

Cliff Clavin was the pedantic US mail carrier and best buddy of “No-o-o-o-o-orm!” who often interrupted conversations with “little known facts.” Contrary to Ratzenberger’s opinion of skilled trades, Cliff’s clear choice of career was the US Postal Service, believing implicitly that this was man’s highest calling. When he met Frasier’s career-cop dad Martin Crane, Cliff’s response was, “Couldn’t pass the mail carrier’s exam?”

Ratzenberger has actually had a lucrative, very successful post-Cheers career voicing numerous memorable characters in Disney-Pixar animated films, including all three Toy Story movies (including the one coming out this summer), Monsters, Inc. and Bugs Life, among others.

So, if you believe some people we are now on our way out of the recession. The skilled trades job market seems to hum along as well as it ever has. A few recent news stories paint a picture of the present and future of skilled trades jobs.

The Guardian complains about government policy in the UK

A story in the Guardian – albeit, this is the Guardian – claims to uncover an issue that has been hampering policy there for several years: the persistent miscalculation of how employment will change by the year 2020 and what impact societal and other changes should be anticipated and how they should affect present politics. The article, in part, cites Ed Balls, the schools secretary, who says in part, that the future of Britain’s job market holds an “increasing demand for higher skills, with very few jobs available for people with low or no skills”.

The article offers a portrati of some young job seekers who have acquired skills but no strong job prospects. And on the other hand, “sceptics of the government’s policy [say the] predictions are groundless. There is no evidence, they say, that the number of mainly low-paid jobs that recruit young people with few or no skills or qualifications is going to shrink.”

Canada: more training, more demand and even some appreciation

In Canada, trade schools like the one offered at Sir Sanford Fleming College are successfully running students through the program and growing steadily. And a survey of Ottawa Valley businesses found that there is a growing shortage of skilled trades workers. Meanwhile, visiting St. John’s Newfoundland, Prime Minister Stephen Harper praised local construction and promised  that the Government will continue investment in Newfoundland’s employment and training programs.  Among other things, he told the crowd: “If construction professionals adopt new technologies and stay current with their expertise, they should have long, busy and successful careers,” the Prime Minister said.

Your neighbourhood

Leave a note to tell me and others how things are in your neck of the woods. Are there lots of skilled trades jobs? Do they pay well? Is there still a recession affecting you? Drop a comment and unless it’s spam I’ll allow it, to see if we can engage some discussion on the latest about skilled trades jobs.

And where have I been?

I would be remiss if I did not note that I have not blogged in an incredibly long time. The simple fact is that this is one of numerous gigs I have and I have numerous other commitments that (frankly) pay better and more immediately. You can bet that I will still be checking in now and then and blogging when there is proper blogging to do.

Tough times call for tough people to make tough decisions – such as taking on a second career. Or maybe pursuing the one you always wanted. So says CNN.

We`ve talked a lot in broad terms about the skilled trades shortage. Here`s an article that points to opportunities in a specific industry, mining.

The Alberta government is promising $4 million for the purpose of promoting the upcoming WorldSkills Calgary competition to high school students in that province. The money will be used for class trips and the like, for grades 9s and 10s. This funding is in addition to the $24 million the province has already promised in support of WorldSkills 2009, the largest international competition of any kind in Albert since the 1988 Calgary Winter Olympics.

At the announcement of the funding, Alberta Education Minister Dave Hancock said, “Alberta’s new economy will require a workforce with sound technical training, so we need to start inspiring students now to pursue advanced studies and careers in the trades and technical professions, and an exciting and international event like WorldSkills does just that.”

The province has also earmarked $391,000 to help organizers take their skills show on the road. This show will make presentations and displays at community events in the months leading up to WorldSkills 2009 in September.

The Department of Education has also sent a letter to all school districts requesting that boards consider starting the 2009 -2010 school year on Aug. 27. This should allow schools extra time needed to organize field trips to the competition.

“Having students exposed to an event at this level of quality, we’re hoping not only to open their eyes, but also open their minds to these great careers and lifestyles,” said Guy Mallabone, chairman of WorldSkills Calgary 2009.

Trade school world features massage therapy schools in Alberta, among various other trade schools.

In case you missed it, the American economy is in trouble lately. The Wall Street Journal has come up with a great idea (i.e. get a job in skilled trades!)

Meanwhile pharmacy school student Olga Vityak is the lead in an LA Times article on finding “hot jobs in a cool economy.” Her secret? Enrolling in trade school. Read more about her. Indeed, trade schools are booming in these “hard times.”

Of course, you can use Trade School World to find schools teaching trades that will pay well and remain in demand for many years to come.

Schools teaching some of the most in demand trades will be massage therapy schools, HVAC schools, truck driving schools and paralegal schools, as well as “traditional trade schools” such as construction trade schools, electrician schools and drafting schools.

At a special day for Rhode Island high school guidance counselors, representatives of various careers were allowed to school the counselors in how to get kids excited about various career tracks including skilled trades and trade school.

Marine trades in particular relished the opportunity. Karl Nordstrom, representing New England Boatworks, and Wendy Mackie, serving as executive director of My Turn Rhode Island, told counselors that there are over 6,000 jobs in the marine trades sector, and another 2,400 people needed over the next decade. While marine trades have talked to students in the past, “what we haven’t been able to do [until now] is target you,” said Nordstrom.

“All kids say they want to go to college,” said Donna Tobin, president-elect of the Rhode Island School Counselors Association. “But I ask what they’re planning to do with it, what they want to get out of it . . . You don’t want to send a kid to college if it’s not going to help. Sometimes they need to find a career first, and then see how college is going to help them.”

Rhode Island is projecting an increase of 54,000 jobs by 2016, and half of those jobs will require some form of higher education, including trades training available at trade schools such as New England Institute of Technology (NEIT) or the Baran Institute of Technology.

According to findings of a recent survey by the Career College Association, nearly 50 percent of those surveyed called career and technical colleges the best alternative to four-year universities, well ahead of community colleges. Only 17 percent of those surveyed favored community college.

Although community colleges (typically averaging 3200 a year in student loans required are usually much less expensive than career colleges. Both community college and career college numbers have risen in the last few years, with more than two million students currently enrolled in trade schools and career colleges. According to the survey, “Trade schools are also graduating students at a higher rate than community colleges: 64 percent of students enrolled in career colleges graduate within three years, compared to only 38 percent of community college students, who have a dropout rate of 45 percent.”

In addition, nearly 90 percent of students at for-profit institutions graduate with debt from student loans. Of these graduates, 10 percent finish school with student loan balances of $45,000 or more.

President of the CCA, Harris Miller, notes that trade schools have increased their edge by facilitating and also marketing workforce readiness over traditional academic higher education. Of 15 occupations projected by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics to grow the fastest over the next decade, only six require a university degree.

Okay, every once in a while we have to post another link to another article about the need for more skilled workers and the attendant need for better trade schools and more people choosing to attend career colleges and trade schools. And this piece is by just a heck of a guy, anyway. Read Mike Holmes special column in the Globe and Mail.