Career Training Helps Unemployed Youth Build Brighter Futures

Many times, looking for work poses challenges. A limited work history, lack of transportation or child care, and lack of basic skills needed are some of the reasons young people find it difficult to get ahead.

It's a growing problem for thousands of people in the Hudson Valley. The underemployment rate for recent high school graduates is 25 percent, higher than a decade ago, according to the Economic Policy Institute. That means that young people may be having difficulty finding full-time work — or are working in jobs where their skills are underutilized.

So it’s good news that a program in the Hudson Valley is working to help more young people gain critical skills needed to enter the workforce and create upwardly mobile career paths. It’s called The Jobs Waiting TechHire program. It meets the needs of young people and meets the needs of employers in the region by providing a pipeline of talent.

Jobs Waiting includes career readiness training, one-on-one career counseling, business communication development, social media for networking training, and the opportunity to pursue specialized training in growth industries. Career coaches and job development specialists work with participants to find training and jobs for up to a year after the program’s initial “boot camps” have ended.

The results? After graduating from the Jobs Waiting program, participants have more confidence, motivation to work, and a more positive outlook about the future.

Success Story — Jamar Clarke

Jamar Clarke had it made in the shade. A graduate of Pelham Prep in the Bronx, he applied for, and received, a full scholarship to the University of Vermont. He was focused on pursuing a high-income career in engineering.

But the adjustment to campus life proved more difficult than he anticipated. A move so far from his parents —while he was still grieving the loss of his sister a year before—was too much. He dropped out after one semester.

Then?

“I drifted some,” says Clarke, now 21. “I lacked structure and direction. I felt sort of aimless. I needed to find out more about myself and what I wanted out of a career besides making money.”
He enrolled in engineering courses at Westchester Community College, following the course of study he had pursued at UVM. He worked in various retail jobs but found he needed more income.

A friend approached him to help manage a new clothing line he was launching, and Clarke signed on. He learned about and became fascinated by digital marketing and decided to learn all he could about the industry. He landed an administrative assistant in marketing job at another fashion line.
One thing about Clarke: He’s resourceful. He went online and found digital marketing courses to sharpen his skills. He completed an unpaid internship for a career coach in San Antonio, Texas, whose social media he managed for a few months.

He thought he might strike out on his own. In early 2018, he participated an entrepreneurship program through New York City-based Operation Hope, which helps youth develop business plans. He continued looking for non-retail work. What eventually became clear to Clarke was, in order to move up in tech, he’d need further education and training. His Operation Hope advisor connected him to a career coach at the Mt. Vernon Career Center, who suggested Jobs Waiting.
He says the program changed everything.

“Over the last few years, I learned more about myself, and what I wanted. In the last five weeks with Jobs Waiting, I plotted my five-year career path,” he says.

Clarke says he learned about career possibilities that he never knew existed—cyber security, coding, web development, for example. He learned to use LinkedIn. He learned how to professionally network.

Now? He started a new internship with a digital content agency, a potential path to a paying job. He’s enrolling in Borough of Manhattan Community College and aims to raise his GPA high enough to get into the Pace University marketing and advertising bachelor’s degree program. He’s on his way!

To read more Jobs Waiting Tech Hire Success Stories, or to register for upcoming boot camps, visit jobswaiting.com!