Short-term training can lead to tech jobs without a college degree

Some states in the United States provide funds to help you enter high school. Graduate So that you can learn the skills to get a technical job without going to college degree.

An example is northeastern Connecticut. We invest $70 million to get young people and adults into short-term training programs and into high-paying tech jobs.

Some states see such programs as a good solution as college costs continue to rise and businesses struggle to find skilled technical workers.

This program is known as “Non-degree Skills Training”. They have helped people like Mohammed Sek who dropped out of college in his second year. Seck said he wanted to work in technology, but the classes offered in traditional college programs were “not very interesting.” He also said that traditional colleges take too long to graduate.

So Sec decided to enroll in a year-long computer training program run by a nonprofit. Now 25, he teaches computer coding at the Skills Training Center (Academy) in Stamford, Connecticut. Sek said his friends who have completed the program are also getting good jobs.

The academy where Sec teaches is run by a company called Synchrony. Instructors teach classes in website design, management, and other essential subjects to current high school students and recent high school graduates.

Nicole Samaniego is one of the students.she told the online publication hechinger report At first, I wanted to study engineering. But after taking her classes at the Academy, she had another idea. “After doing this program for about five months, she decided she wanted to change her career,” she said.

She will focus on computer science when she enrolls at the University of Connecticut later this month. For students who do not plan to attend college, the Academy offers job search assistance.

Niall Dammando is the leader of the Connecticut Workforce Office. strategyHe said academies like the one run by Synchrony can help finance the state. This is because skilled tech workers are more likely to make more money and pay more state taxes.Damand said this is real incentive So that the state can put workers into better paying jobs.

Bridgette Gray works for a non-profit organization called Opportunity@Work. She asks employers to hire people without a college degree. Her own son, Gray said, dropped out of college after her first semester and took classes online and with her group, Per Scholas, which provides technology training across the country.

According to a study conducted by Georgetown University’s Center on Education and the Workforce, people with a college degree earn about 84% more during their lifetime. But not everyone can get into college, pay for it, or do well in college.

David Soo heads an organization called Jobs for the Future. He said the college model that has been in place for the past 40 years is not for everyone. And this is especially true for students who are black, Hispanic, or whose families don’t make much money.

Brad Hershbein of the Upjohn Institute for Employment Research agrees. In the past, employers recruited inexperienced workers and trained them for better jobs as they got older, he said. At some point, however, that model became costly and companies decided to rely on universities to provide that kind of training.

But now many companies are in dire need of trained workers. To meet that need, some companies are creating their own academies or recruiting students from places like Synchrony. Big tech companies like IBM and Google are starting their own programs because they can train workers faster than universities can.

Recently, however, some companies have cut their workforces due to fears of an economic slowdown. Tech companies announcing job cuts include Robinhood, Oracle, Shopify, SoundCloud, Netflix and Coinbase.

Such layoffs lead to more people seeking jobs. As a result, industry experts say a college graduate is more likely to be hired if a company considers hiring two of her with the same skills.

Anthony Carnevale is the leader of Georgetown’s Center for Education and Workforce. He said vocational training is good, but he’s not 100% right when he tells people they can’t. advantage from a university degree.

One of the reasons companies hire college graduates is because they believe they have better communication and teamwork skills.

To supplement that, a vocational training nonprofit called YearUp is also trying to provide such instruction. Gerald Chartavian, who heads the organization, said YearUp not only teaches him how to code and design his website, but also includes training on how to succeed in an office environment.

After all, even experts who say it’s good to have a college degree recognize that there may be reasons not to go to college. “The best outcome is that people have a choice,” said Georgetown’s Carnevale. “And we confirmation All choices lead to good work. “

I’m Brian Lynn.

I’m Faith Pirlo.

Dan Friedel edited this story for VOA Learning English. Hechinger Reportis a non-profit independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education.

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the words of this story

graduation–n. A person who has graduated from a school such as high school or university

degree –n. A document showing that a person has finished school

strategy –n. A deliberate plan to complete something or achieve a goal over a period of time

incentive –n. something that makes someone want to take on a job or project

advantage –n. good result or effect

confirmation –v. make sure something happens

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