Gephardt: Job Training Opportunities For Post Pandemic Careers

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – After weeks of dropping unemployment numbers, last week, Utah saw a 9.1% jump in new claims for jobless benefits. Even in this economy made tough by the COVID-19 pandemic, there are still opportunities for Utahns who are looking to expand their skills so they can get a job.

Donna Walker lost her job as a veterinarian tech and was on unemployment when the coronavirus outbreak hit. She said watching the news became harder as the pandemic’s impact unfolded. “It just became so much anxiety I would go to study just to get away from what was going on,” she said.

Walker was already making headway toward a new career. “What was offered to me was schooling,” she said. “And I’m like, ‘Well, I would like therapeutic recreation technician.’ ”

Walker enrolled in a training program at the Department of Workforce Services. 

“We can help with all the education costs, supportive services,” said Emily Rosh, a program specialist with the Department of Workforce Services.   “We can really make sure that whatever training program fits your circumstances and your needs, we can support that.”

Besides training, employment counselors at the department can help new job seekers clear all sorts of hurdles.

“They meet someone, help with the career coaching, help with the career pathways and they kind of help figure out where that person should go,” explained Rosh. “We help people get over barriers. We help with childcare. We help support services. So, you don’t just come to us and say, ‘Hey, I need help with training.’ That’s the majority of the thing, but we also help get you from Point A to Point B, whatever that looks like for that individual.”

Steve King is a business development director for Apprenti, a non-profit, Washington-state based apprenticeship program recently opened in Utah.

“A person can get the skills and training they need to become fully skilled at a craft,” said King. “You can become an apprentice and then eventually become a fully-trained software developer, for example.”

Apprentices get several months of free specialized training, before starting on-the-job training with a local company, which is paid and lasts about a year.

“Apprenticeship is one of those ways that a person can actually keep working, get money, develop themselves and actually get certified in a job that will make them better,” King explained.

King told KSL the average age of people who have applied to become an apprentice is 33. “So, it’s not like individuals who have just come right out of high school. But now they have the training, they have the skills from the on-the-job training opportunity, they’re now in a situation where they’re kind of set for what they can do in the future,” he said.

For Donna Walker, the future is already brighter. She interviewed for a job during this pandemic and snagged it. She is now a program director for memory care at an assisted-living center.

“It’s awesome,” she said. “I love what I do.” 

Links for Job Training

• Training Resources from Utah Dept. of Workforce Services
• Apprenti Utah
• Apprenticeships through the Associated General Contractors of Utah
• Technical Training through the Salt Lake Community College
• Career Resources from the State of Utah