MSNBC: "Retraining roulette: New skills, no new job"

[The Gorn]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/...ews-the_elkhart_project/

 

In a massive makeover of the U.S. work force, hundreds of thousands of laid-off Americans are undergoing federally subsidized retraining   designed to provide them with the skills and education to land new jobs.

   

For some, it already feels like an exercise in futility.

   

"I've tried and tried (to find work) and it's discouraging," said Jama Eisman, 49, of Elkhart, Ind., a laid-off recreational vehicle   worker and single mom who has been looking for a job - any job - since she graduated from a six-month information   technology program in early August. "... A lot of places they have signs on the doors saying they're not even accepting   applications."

So laid off workers are being mentored into going into IT? Geez. How "2000".

The rest of it is pretty sad, verging on tragic.

A friend from high school who worked at the GM Moraine truck assembly plant is retraining in waste water treatment and hopes to hire on as a waste water technician somewhere in the state. His prospects seem really good, actually: he was taken under the wing of some training program managers who recognized that his college level math course background would make him extremely competitive against the mainly blue collar folks who go into waste water management. He's had college calculus and the basic math that these guys must "master" is making him stand out while his peers struggle.

That's the only real angle I can see to retraining - find a specialization that is so distasteful sounding, or is so obscure, or both, that it is under everyone's radar screen. IT is now too obvious.

[Origisaurus]

As far back as I can remember.

They give you tests, they counsel you on the test results and they tell you what your aptitudes are.  But they don't have any openings to refer you to.

It provides employment for them - the testers and counselors and such.

[Richardk]

Lots of talk but no jobs.

IT is actually a "growth" area for our states projections, last I looked. I don't know what planet they're on but the only IT work I see an abundance of is going for $10 / hr and these are not intern or entry level jobs.

Exactly what does a 6-month IT program give you? This 'retraining' seems a bit light-weight.

[I D Shukhov]

Lots of talk but no jobs.  
 
  IT is actually a "growth" area for our states projections, last I looked. I don't know what planet they're on but the only IT work I see an   abundance of is going for $10 / hr and these are not intern or entry level jobs.  
 
  Exactly what does a 6-month IT program give you? This 'retraining' seems a bit light-weight.

Right, I frequently see "Software Engineer", "IT Manager", "Network Engineer" show up in  "10 best jobs of the future" lists.  Unless you can prove expertise in these areas with an impressive resume, you absolutely have to have a 4-year degree.  Somebody with neither of these credentials (and the 4-year degree is suspect in the current economy) doesn't have a chance.

The one constant in "training for a job", even if it is going to college, or getting a masters degree is to carefully research the prospective job or career.  That includes talking to people actually doing the work.  The older guy at the end of the story seemed to be appropriately cautious, although you get the feeling he might be a bit risk-adverse.

Also, I wonder how long it's going to take to saturate the market for RNs and CNAs ?  It seems like all of these retraining stories include somebody who is breaking into the health care field.

[Aussie]

....were not what you'd call real career-retraining.  More like call-centre operator stuff.  But it enables the apparatchiks in Canberra to chalk up a big tally.

[pm4hire]

something in the health industry.

[The Gorn]

Perhaps but everyone can't be an EMT or a nurse.

[pm4hire]

in respiratory, dialysis, and physical therapy.  I've been in
and out of the hospital several times and the young people
I've met they tell me that there's a waiting list at many of
these schools here to get training.

Here in Mesa, if you have a 4 year college degree, Banner
Gateway Hospital has a 24 month program where they train
you to become a RN FOR FREE.