WorkForce places youth with business for job experiences
By SHARON KERR Staff Writer

"It's your life, what's in it for you?" asks a brochure on what WorkForce Solutions can offer youth to prepare them for productive careers, and they offer employers a chance to find the right student to fill a part-time need.

Paula Williams is the youth career counselor in the Jasper office. She handles Jasper, Newton and Sabine counties.

"The schools focus on top students, the kids who will go to college, but for other kids who don't have focus or parents that motivate them, we're here to help them get started in a career," Williams said.

"Success is not always a four-year degree," she said. "We have some training programs that run six weeks to six months."

That includes courses in instrumentation or welding that involve some classroom training and a lot of handson experience or on the job apprenticeship.

"We may put them with a master electrician or a plumber," Williams said. "They may work with a carpenter or a home builder. We try to identify kids with what I call hand-skills and get them on-the-job experience."

She said this kind of training prepares youth to take advantage of the booming growth in the Golden Triangle, and that kids are coming out of these programs and going into jobs whose starting pay tops $40,000 per year, jobs they can stay with and make a career out of.

Business partners

What's in it for a small business to take on a student?

Typically, students who qualify will work 15 - 20 hours per week, and for qualified students, WorkForce Solutions will pay up to 520 hours of their wages during training.

"We're finding that kids after they graduate are just floating," Williams said. "Employers come to me to find the best student to fit their need."

WFS offers assessment of skills, career workshops, advice in how to make a good impression in job interviews, help with resumes, and job search assistance.

Youth must be eligible to work in the U.S., between the ages of 14 and 21, and some programs and tuition and training grants are needsbased.

For employers, Williams said most small businesses in Jasper can qualify, but there are some areas where WFS really needs more opportunities to place these students.

"We need more opportunities in the medical field because there is a very high demand," Williams said. "We also need opportunities in business management, accounting offices, law firms, places like that."

That's one of the differences Williams sees between rural areas and cities.

"In a small community you almost have to know someone to get a job in a bank," she said. "You have to have connections to get your foot in the door."

She said she needs more employers willing to offer a place of experience.

"We have a full service youth department to help kids transition from high school to adulthood, to being productive employees," Williams said.

The Jasper office is located at 710 South Wheeler; 384- 9031 or toll-free, 877-384- 9031.