CAREERS: Finding right path takes help

Choosing the right career can often be difficult, espcially for a large number of people who aren't sure where to start.

Lola Perrock, a case manager with Workforce West Virginia One Stop Cabell Learning Center, said many people who walk through the center's door don't have a high school diploma and have limited work experience outside of retail or fast food. There also are adults, most without college degrees, who have worked a job for a number of years and now find themselves unemployed.

For these people, finding a stable job can be difficult because they typically don't have the interviewing or resume-building skills that can earn them consideration for an open position.

Workforce West Virginia, however, does offer programs and materials on writing a resume, interview etiquette and job research.

For Robert Bailey and Tracy Urian, their job is to offer those skills and career advice to high school students in Cabell County.

Urian, a counselor at Cabell Midland High School, works with students on making post-high school decisions about military, careers, job shadowing and college information.

But the students of today are in a school system that most adults never experienced. Urian said they choose a career cluster in eighth grade, and their high school careers are more focused than in past generations.

"We want them to have a base or foundation of skills, so they can go onto whatever they want to do," Urian said. "We help them decide if they are college bound or vocational."

Urian said when she talks to students, it's as simple as, "What are you interested in, what are you good at?"

But asking high school juniors and seniors to decide what they want to do can be an overwhelming experience for them, she said. Still, it's more important that today's students start thinking about their future early.

"It's very different (than in the past)," Urian said. "It's more defined. Kids have to start thinking about stuff earlier. That's why we try to make it as simplistic as possible."

Bailey's job is similar, but as the high school counselor at the Cabell County Career Technology Center, he must research and relay information on industries that students can enter after completing two-year programs.

"These kids, for the most part, want to finish the programs they are in here and go right into the work force," Bailey said.

But Bailey's job has been more difficult recently, as the number of high school students taking courses at the Technology Center has dropped, while many industries are telling him they need skilled workers.

"We keep hearing from industry that a lot of their skilled workers are going to be retiring, and they don't know what they are going to do," he said. "There are still areas around here where a person can go to work and stay there for 20 or 30 years.

"What we try to pitch is there are skilled trades they can learn here," he added. "It's hard to out-source those jobs."

But it can be more difficult to give career counseling to high school students, Bailey said. Most of the shop teachers, though, do incorporate social skills into their curriculum, such as customer service, promptness and simple on-the-job skills.

They also place students for internships, but Bailey admitted they need to do a better job helping students with resumes and interviewing skills.

All in all, though, the Technology Center does provide career options for people who aren't looking at the traditional university path. It's just a matter of increasing the awareness of the programs that are available and the opportunities that exist.