Get Trained by the Federal Government
Overview:
Tens of millions are unemployed and underemployed. Certain areas of the country have been hit even harder than others. Boomers are watching their life’s retirement and other savings dwindle, hit by the need to tap savings just to pay living expenses while what’s left is savaged by loss after loss, scandal after scandal. The fresh crop of college grads are dizzy from the shock of facing the worst job market since the Great Depression.
Realizing that long-standing, bedrock kinds of jobs continue to rapidly disappear and that the workforce will require considerable retraining for new jobs, the new administration is scrambling to help by spending about $4 billion on jobs programs.
However, the federal government has never been known for making its programs simple to understand, let alone access. Here, then, in plain language, is how the program might help you retrain for an in-demand occupation.
Description:
The only path to job re-training is via one of the federal government’s 3,000 career centers, sometimes called One-Stop-Career-Centers. They are usually operated under your state’s Employment Development Department (EDD) which handles unemployment insurance claims. Some states offer EDD websites covering the re-training programs, most do not.
If you can’t find a website with the information, then call or visit your local EDD. Ask how to enter the employment counseling system for displaced workers. You must be currently unemployed and in most cases actively receiving unemployment compensation insurance checks. In certain circumstances, if you have exhausted your insurance coverage, but are still unemployed or underemployed, you may still be able to qualify for the program. Underemployment is defined as being employed substantially below the job rank, and to some extent the salary, of the job you held when your job was eliminated. In most cases, you cannot voluntary quit your current job and end up in the re-training program.
Once you are in this system absolutely do not expect to be placed immediately into a training program that magically leads to the perfect, stable, high paying job. Instead, you must first do your own research focused on answering four essential questions: 1) What jobs are growing? 2) How do my own skills, experience, likes and dislikes, match these occupations ? 3) Which training programs will prepare me for these occupations? 4) What is the total cost of the tuition?
With your ducks lined up, meet with an employment counselor and pitch your plan. You must be completely convincing because this counselor has the power to pay for some or all of your re-training or none. Whereas at one time the federal government was not big on accountability and performance metrics, times have changed. Your employment counselor must report how many entered training and how many became re-employed as a result of their training. They will want to pick a winner, so do your homework and have all the answers, just like you would prepare for a job interview. Remember, the money must be spent on your tuition, books, and other directly related education fees. There is no stipend for living expenses available. However, in most cases you continue to receive your unemployment checks until that runs out.
Here are other resources to assist you if you think you might qualify for job re-training:
http://www.careeronestop.org/reemployment/
http://www.careeronestop.org/SalariesBenefits/Sal_default.aspx
Salary information for occupations you’re considering.
Submitted by:
Date added:
Tuesday, 16 Jun 2009
