WELCOME TO ‘THE REAL WORLD’
Young employees face a generational challenge, officials say
SARATOGA SPRINGS >> Jobs are a significant topic in this heated political climate, and as the dust finally clears from Monday’s first presidential debate, jobs are still on the minds of Americans across the nation. Here in Saratoga Springs, Assemblywoman Carrie Woerner has hosted back-to-back events aimed at helping young people find that first job.
On Tuesday, Woerner met with numerous managers and school district superintendents to discuss the challenges facing young potential employees today. On Wednesday, an apprenticeship and job fair was held at the Saratoga Springs YMCA.
Of the number of challenges facing fresh out of high school or college students today, readiness to take that step towards that first job is an unfortunate drawback. According to David Moak, training coordinator for the Northeast Carpenters Apprenticeship Fund, students today don’t know how to budget, and are therefore at a critical disadvantage when stepping out in the “real world,” especially if they attend college beforehand.
“They don’t get taught how to handle their money to pay their bills,” he said. Further, many of them are in debt after college, meaning that the budgetary skills they lack are in desperate need.
However, what the participants at Wednesday’s job fair would like to encourage, is that students don’t necessarily need college to be a success. Trade jobs are often overlooked. Eileen Venn is the president of the Capital District National Association of Women in Construction. “Culturally, kids believe that if they don’t go to a four year college then they’re not going to be successful and that is so not true,” she said.
Larry Warzek, training
coordinator for the local union of the Sheet Metal Workers’ International Association, thinks more shop classes should be offered in high schools.
“A lot of guys with a four year diploma don’t have basic trade functions,” he said. “They have it but they don’t know how to apply it. They’re not teaching that in schools.”
The consensus also seemed to be that today’s youth are more willing to wait for bigger opportunities, and in the meantime not work, than they used to be, because everything is readily available to them in this digital age.
“Their focus is that they know what they want but they don’t know how to get there,” Moak said. “I don’t know if they are taught how to get there.”
“There’s no urgency,” Venn said.
Concerns about students not being employment ready have rung the ears of teachers at Maple Avenue Middle School. Nora Ketham and Cora Chase are eighth grade home and careers teachers who teach students at a young age the fundamentals or resume building. They also urge students to take as few study halls as possible so that they use their time actually learning new skills, such as stepping into a photography dark room.
While significant, all of those things are incomparable to the importance of being able to interact with others. An impressive interview is key to getting the job, and Warzek believes that students are afraid to interview because they never experience it. Ketcham agrees.
“Regardless of how smart you are or how wealthy you are, you need to be able to connect with people,” Ketcham said.