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How can one succeed on a nontraditional career path? The Spark traveled to Dauphin County Technical School for answers.

  • Aniya Faulcon

Airdate: February 27, 2023

The Spark traveled to the Dauphin County Technical School, and hosts Scott LaMar and Aniya Faulcon, spoke with employers, educators, administrators and students about in demand careers; with an emphasis on some young people pursuing careers that many would not picture them seeking.

Right now, jobs are plentiful and many employers can’t find enough workers. The COVID-19 pandemic has contributed a great deal to the changing dynamics of work. However, even before the pandemic, many employers couldn’t recruit workers with the skills needed to perform the jobs and fill the positions their businesses needed.   Dauphin County Technical School is training students of any gender to step into those careers and fill those positions.

“We’ve heard for the longest time that manufacturing careers, construction careers, and other careers have the opportunity no matter what gender you are to enter and we are seeing more women enter nontraditional careers and more men enter nontraditional fields as well. And I think the barriers that most people face can be resolved with mentorship opportunities,” Carrie Amann, executive director of the Pennsylvania Workforce Development Association said. “…We think employers are really starting to address the culture of their workplaces to better understand that we need to be acceptable of diversity and inclusion and that students coming that are eighteen need to interact with workers of any age.”

On The Spark Monday, employers shared what they’re looking for from students planning to enter the workforce; and administrators, teachers and students from the Dauphin County Technical School shared how they are working to give them exactly what they want.

Dr. Karen Pflugh, director of the Dauphin County Technical School, said most of the students at her school graduate and go straight into the workforce and some of them enter the workforce before graduating.

“Our hopes are always that our students, when they graduate, feel comfortable with the skill that they learned over the four year period and that they become employed,” Dr. Pflugh said.

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