Labour Market Skills for a New Economy

Skill #2: Consumer of Educational/ Training Services Skills

Why did the high school graduate pass over the television repair technician program and enter the electronic technician program at the local community college, when his goal was to become a television repair person?

Because he visited several television repair shops and asked what skills they used most. And he talked to the co-ordinators of both programs and asked about the skills he would learn in each program. The answers told him that the television repair program had outdated equipment and the courses would not adequately prepare him to work in the shops he had visited. The electronic technician program offered courses that exactly suited the work he would do as a repair person. After graduation he was hired immediately.

How did the university graduate who had been unable to find work in her field for a year decide between a nine-month private school program and a two-year community college program that was one quarter the cost of the private school?

She investigated the rates of job placement and how long it took to get full-time employment for both programs. She looked at the average salaries for the new graduates and for three years after graduation. She phoned three companies where she would like to work and asked the human resources department whether the programs made a difference in hiring practices. Based on the answers, and her personal situation, she decided to take out a loan and go for the shorter program. She got a job immediately after graduation and a year and a half later had been put into a supervisory position with a substantial raise.

Becoming an informed consumer of educational services is an important skill to develop because of the lifetime need to identify and acquire the latest skills in demand for staying and moving around in the labour market.

Developing higher levels of workplace skills is often accomplished through post-secondary education. In fact, employment gains for those with post-secondary education offer clear evidence that the job market has been undergoing a revolution of rising skill levels. On all measures of labour market activity, those with higher education fare better.

However, an informed consumer would know that colleges and universities are not the only road to success, and that technical institutes and apprenticeships are providing employers with skilled workers who are very much in demand. Overall, results from the COPS Demand Model show that graduates with specific technical skills also fare well in the labour market (see Figure 16).

Figure 16 shows a prediction that the largest share of new jobs created will continue to be filled by workers with college and trade backgrounds. Those trained for management and those with university educations are expected to increase their share of the new jobs market and those with high school or less are expected to lose a share of the newly created jobs.

An informed consumer would also know that a diploma, certificate or degree alone does not necessarily guarantee employment. Unfortunately, some people have invested time and money in training and have been unable to find work in the area of training. The importance of complementary skills is discussed in skills 3 and 4.

While success in the labour market depends on many factors, detailed information about the program of study is particularly important in strategizing for labour market success. Clients should be encouraged to research the relevance and quality of any prospective program or course. This includes calling some companies and asking if they hire graduates from the program under consideration. It also includes talking with a company supervisor or union/association representative to find out what upgrading will meet the needs of certain positions in a company or industry. It is a good idea to:

• talk to a program instructor and ask about the placement rates of the graduates;
• ask recent graduates about experiences in the workplace after graduation;
• talk to industry supervisors about present and future skills gaps;
• refer to any follow-up surveys done by the institution itself or by provincial ministries of advanced education; and
• refer to regional or national information such as Job Futures or the National Graduate Survey.

Choosing a Program In general the important question is: Will you learn what you need, get the credential you require, and meet influential people, to be able to do the work you want? The following criteria can help narrow down the choice. Do employers recognize the training program? Do the instructors have recent industry experience? Are the institution's premises suitable for the training provided? Is the equipment up-to-date and compatible with existing business and industry equipment? Is the institution willing and able to provide the names and addresses of persons who have attained employment after completion of the program? Does the cost, program length and course content compare favourably with similar programs in other institutions? Does the institution make any effort to place its graduates in jobs after completion of the program? Is the institution recognized and accredited by any industry or business association?

Results from the National Graduate Survey conducted by Statistics Canada for Human Resources Development Canada are published in reports and are used in Part 2, Outlooks by Field of Study of the Job Futures publication. The information gathered answers questions about whether graduates have found jobs, where graduates have found jobs and how satisfied they are with their program. In addition, most provinces conduct their own post-secondary student outcomes surveys which provide more detail on students' education experiences as well as labour market outcomes once they have completed their studies.

The responsibility for determining the quality and relevance of a program of study rests with the student. As with selecting a career or occupational goal, the task of choosing the right training program should be undertaken with a great deal of care and consideration.