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Every job has a learning curve. Even if you are trained in something (let's say administration) you still have to learn 'how that office runs' and 'how they do things' and I bet most places have some internal software they use (at my last job we had something I had to learn, not a Microsoft program but something used in conjunction with real estate/accounting).
Most people do not walk in a job 'running' and 100% perfect, be they MBA's, janitors, or clerks. In many jobs, it takes weeks for you to be 100% confident and left on your own.
The better companies do offer training. I have seen this in my 'career' in customer service. When I worked at a paper company in PA, I was in the stock/sample room which was an offshoot of the customer service dept. Many reps started out in the sample room so they KNEW the product before they let them get on the phone with customers. The manager/supervisor trained these folks. They touched the product, learned the grades, the colors, and so on.
I was quite impressed. How many times have we gotten someone on the phone in CS who has no clue about 'the size part' we need or the 'type of part and the grade' or whatever?
That is the difference between a successful professional company and a crappy one. I've worked at the crappy one, too. Put on the phone with a manual of 1000 parts and you had to fumble around and try to figure out what the customer wants. Very bush league. Especially after they have been on hold 20 minutes.
"Lots of great high paying jobs, no qualified workers" has nothing to do with whats going on right now:
Most people who are unemployed were not in niche fields that are in need/demand now
Specialized, unpopular/unwell-known positions are always in demand
Ultimately, stop trying to b.s. me into thinking that my situation was due to the fact I was a bad worker and now not qualified to do anything.
There is a difference between continuing education, system-based training, and new-skill training; don't try to intermingle these phrases or expect my prior employer to be responsible for any of these in lieu of you providing offerings.
Sometimes this gets really tiring, insulting, and frustrating. More importantly, I am more than thankful to know this cycle will be over for me sooner rather than later.
I disagree. You already knew the basics of the job, you just needed to pick up the specific knowledge of that company. And if it's an industry you've worked in before, you are right, it doesn't take long.
You can't really disagree with my prior experience. And your comment is not accurate.
I got a sales coordinator position straight out of college coming from retail. I'd never worked in an office before and had to be trained fresh on everything (Outlook, Excel, Powerpoint). When I was hired as an assoc. marketing manager, I could write copy but had to be trained to do mail and email campaigns, as well as organize print advertising. In my current position, I can say that 80% of what I'm doing is for the first time, including event planning, fulfillment and managing list databases.
And all the industries were very different. I went from retail to publishing to banking and now information security. Without training, I would have gotten nowhere.
It's got to be a lot longer than a year. It takes six months to get an already knowledgeable employee up to speed, it takes easily two years to train someone "raw." Then you'd want to recoup that training. I'd make them sign a five year contract, and the first two years they get what amounts to about 70% of the wages for the person who already wants to do the job. Why should an employer pay someone and train them, only to have them take the training elsewhere as soon as they have that "two years experience?"
Training an inspector takes a minimum of two years in some states (Florida and Texas to name two) and five years in others (Georgia and the Carolina's to name three more) and there is no way around the minimum time requirements.
This is costly even at minimum wage.
This isn't hard physical work and it is something literally anybody can do with a high school education and average intelligence.
Minimum wage? Yes, afraid so because companies are in business to make a profit and even at minimum wage a company is spending more money on you than the employee is contributing regardless of how hard he works.
First off nobody will hire for minimum wage... it would be between $9 and $10 per hour to start.
Add to this medical insurance everyone provides along with holiday, vacation pay with added taxes and insurance and we're easily looking at a cost to us of $12 to $14 an hour. Yes folks, it costs a company a lot more than your wage to hire you.
Safe to say the new trainee will cost the company $13 an hour.
That's $26,000 a year minimum.
Two years of training is $52,000 and everyone acts like this is no big deal and all companies should train. It is a big deal because that $52,000 comes directly out of profits and when you make 5% it means you'll do a million dollars worth of work to "break even".
Most companies are smaller doing only $1 to $3 million gross sales in a year... to train someone it could easily cost a company half a years lost profits.
While the trainee will contribute something it won't be enough to pay his wages. For the first six months he'll be paid to ride around with a certified inspector and be company. He might carry some small hand tools and help out but not a lot of contribution. Fact is in the process of training he'll actually slow things up for the first six months.
After two years, and especially after five years, he will definitely be worth something ($20 an hour is minimum pay anywhere in the country) but not in the beginning. So instead of spending a net $40,000 to train someone why not use that $40,000 to poach from another company getting someone you can use right away?
The problem I've had over the last 10 years attracting trainees is most have the idea in their head they are worth more than they are. Nah, people are only worth what someone is willing to pay but so many think because they have a degree and can draw a breath they're worth six figures. Doesn't work this way.
But for someone that is certified life is good right now with lots and lots of open job opportunities. High school graduate, good driving record, no felony convictions, can pass a drug test and has full certification can find a job paying at least $20 to $28 an hour with full benefits practically anywhere inside of 24 hours even today. These particular jobs are also pretty well recession proof.... it is the states that are mandating the inspections and it is something the owner of the property has to do if he wants to keep his certificate of occupancy and occupy the buidling. It is something companies pay for whether they are cutting back or not.
Training an inspector takes a minimum of two years in some states (Florida and Texas to name two) and five years in others (Georgia and the Carolina's to name three more) and there is no way around the minimum time requirements.
I understand that in some positions, training can be an extensive thing. But not in every one. For instance, when I was training to learn new jobs, I didn't take special classes, work with trainers or have to study elsewhere to learn the skills. My manager or someone else in the dept who already knew the job, sat down with me for maybe an hour or so, a day and went through the steps with me. It didn't take but a few days (sometimes a few hours) for me to begin doing it on my own. How much extra money could that cost? In some positions, there already have a handbook or written process for things and we just went over it and I used it as a guide.
Just saying, training can be very simple. And a newbie could be up and running in no time. I'm currently the only one in the office today and left with projects that I'd only been trained to do like a month ago? And its a peice of cake.
I understand that in some positions, training can be an extensive thing. But not in every one. For instance, when I was training to learn new jobs, I didn't take special classes, work with trainers or have to study elsewhere to learn the skills. My manager or someone else in the dept who already knew the job, sat down with me for maybe an hour or so, a day and went through the steps with me. It didn't take but a few days (sometimes a few hours) for me to begin doing it on my own. How much extra money could that cost? In some positions, there already have a handbook or written process for things and we just went over it and I used it as a guide.
Just saying, training can be very simple. And a newbie could be up and running in no time. I'm currently the only one in the office today and left with projects that I'd only been trained to do like a month ago? And its a peice of cake.
OK, you've got skills already. But you can't tell me that someone who just graduated high school could walk into your job and be up and running in a week or less. Heck my guess is that most recent college grads who have never worked in an office before couldn't. It's not just hard skills but also soft skills that must be learned by new hires.
Same as my company. We need actuaries or those who have studied actuarial sciences and who are able to pass the actuary exams-- in fact you are paid for months of study time and can command a pretty handsome salary.
People with the skillset of a good actuary are hard to find and the tests are pretty brutal.
Indeed. Lots of recent actuarial grads out there jobless right now though. It will turn around though and if people stick it out they should be able to break into the field.
I joke with my friends that the exams aren't bad, the curve and the competition are though.
OK, you've got skills already. But you can't tell me that someone who just graduated high school could walk into your job and be up and running in a week or less. Heck my guess is that most recent college grads who have never worked in an office before couldn't. It's not just hard skills but also soft skills that must be learned by new hires.
No, I wouldn't say high school but a new grad probably could (the girl I report to was a 2007 graduate and is turning 24). I just know it was pretty easy for me. Before I finished college, I'd only done retail, fast food and telemarketing. I learned by doing and watching others.
I have 2 other friends who both worked at the same retail chain I worked at. They both got into office jobs, starting as admins. with no prior exp and both have been promoted twice now, one is a manager now and all with no college degree (they're working on them).
I just think a lot can happen with the right training.
No, I wouldn't say high school but a new grad probably could (the girl I report to was a 2007 graduate and is turning 24). I just know it was pretty easy for me. Before I finished college, I'd only done retail, fast food and telemarketing. I learned by doing and watching others.
I have 2 other friends who both worked at the same retail chain I worked at. They both got into office jobs, starting as admins. with no prior exp and both have been promoted twice now, one is a manager now and all with no college degree (they're working on them).
I just think a lot can happen with the right training.
I think it depends on the job. My job overlaps disciplines (marketing, PR, graphic arts and print layout, web design including database integration, operations, event management, and network administrator). IF they could find someone with experience in all of those, the curve is learning the niche industry. But many of those skills are not something you can give someone a weeks worth of training in and expect them to perform. And no employer in their right mind is going to hire someone with no experience to try to fill that position. Especially because I AM the department for all of the above except operations, so there is no one to train me. I either know it or better figure it out on my own.
OK, you've got skills already. But you can't tell me that someone who just graduated high school could walk into your job and be up and running in a week or less. Heck my guess is that most recent college grads who have never worked in an office before couldn't. It's not just hard skills but also soft skills that must be learned by new hires.
Well I think h.s. graduates are a wide range in ability. This is pretty obvious, w/ some people graduating h.s. with not even taking Algebra II, and others already done with Calculus II. This is why a high school diploma is now worthless, even though my particular coursework and many of my peers was more difficult than students graduating with an A.A. at community colleges. There are really no standards, and quickly B.A.'s in university are becoming almost worthless as well. You tell me who would be the better hire, some person with an english degree who didn't even have to take calculus or statistics at a state university, or a recent high school graduate, who took college statistics, multiple calculus, computer science, etc already in h.s. ? If I was the hiring manager, I would probably hire the high school grad, as we all know maturity levels aren't exactly equal either. And you can't really teach "being smart" just like you can run all day long but you'll never be as fast as an NFL wide receiver. Most employers never even look at h.s. or college transcripts, I know *some* do, but most, no.
They probably could do this, what is college going to teach them about office administration? I worked afternoons 1-5 as an office assistant at a law firm soon as I graduated H.S. at 18 and did all my courses at university in the morning or PM. With many h.s. students taking college courses already in h.s. this is a no brainer. Me and plenty of my peers entered university already as a sophomore, and this was back in the 90s, from a public high school. I'm sure it is much more profound now than before.
Yeah I had to learn their systems but it was 2-3 weeks at best.
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Especially after they have been on hold 20 minutes.
