On the Job

This post was to be published on November 2. Due to our unexpected snowstorm and a 74 hour power outage!!!!, I had to postpone publication until this week. I apologize to those who may have signed on only to be disappointed. I will resume my bi-weekly schedule starting today. The next post will be on Wednesday, November 23.


In this very difficult economy (an understatement at best), many young people who have spent four or more years to earn a costly degree find themselves at a loss for a job. We hear that word so much, job market, job growth, etc. Unfortunately, we mostly hear about how many graduates don't have them!

In my post way back on September 8, 2010, I discussed what I call the "Scarecrow Syndrome" and the reasons why young people may decide to go to college. It's worth a read, if you haven't done so already. I know that there are many studies and even TV commercials that tout how much more money you can make with a college degree. (Although, in this bad economy, who knows if that "conventional wisdom" even holds true?) To what end, especially if you can't find a job and your heart, your passion, wasn't really in your studies to begin with.

A route to fulfilling and well paid employment seems, woefully, to have gone out of vogue - apprenticeships. We are not talking Dickensian England here! As Wikipedia defines them, apprenticeships are systems of "training a new generation of practitioners of a skill..Most of their training is done while working for an employer who helps the apprentices learn their trade in exchange for their continuing labour for an agreed period after they become skilled. Theoretical education may also be involved, informally via the workplace and/or by attending vocational schools while still being paid by the employer." (emphasis added)

The United States Department of Labor has an Office of Apprenticeship. Their site, www.doleta.gov/oa, gives information about registered apprenticeship programs in 1,000 career areas including chef, child care, dental assistant, electrician and many others. The site is certainly worth investigation, as is the idea of an apprenticeship for those interested in more applied training and careers.