Snack & Learn videos give students and educators insights into different industries and occupations and provide resources useful for students when they leave high school. Like our Career Journeys videos, these can be used by students to help them think more concretely about their next steps and doing career exploration to generate artifacts. However, these videos are designed to be less about the journey of each person, and more about working for a particular company/industry or attending a particular post-secondary institution.
Now in our second season of Snack & Learns, this year’s videos are focused on non-traditional, but well established, post-secondary opportunities. These include things like apprenticeships, as well as other lesser-known training opportunities, for all sorts of industries. Our season two videos are generally 10 minutes or less in length. You can still access our season one video archive.
Tech careers don’t necessarily require degrees
Students looking for tech careers can find entry level jobs on Help Desks, in website development, and other areas with certifications rather than degrees. NuPaths Chief Learning Officer Andy Petroski reviews some of the options his organization’s training programs offer.
Becoming a machinist
For 22 years, New Century Careers has been offering a tuition-free training program for young people who want to become machinists. The nonprofit’s Special Projects & Outreach Coordinator, Patrick Bendel describes the skills needed, the training and the job opportunities.
Apprenticeships open career paths
In Germany, the majority of careers begin with apprenticeships, not college, which is why the German American Chamber of Commerce is helping American companies train workers through similar programs that combine classroom education with on-the-job training. All of them not only are tuition-free, apprentices also earn while they learn.
Building a career one brick at a time
Bricklayers don’t just learn to lay bricks, some also learn “allied crafts” such as installing beautiful natural stones like marble, tiling floors or even restoring historic buildings. In this video, Anthony Joseph, Apprentice & Training Coordinator at Bricklayers & Allied Craftworkers Local 9, reviews the trade, the training and the opportunities.
If I were a carpenter…
From the framework for many buildings, to finishing details like crown moldings and bookshelves, you’ll know carpenters have been at work. In this video, Richard F. Paganie Jr., Training Director at Carpenters Training Center, describes what they must learn and how apprenticeships teach them.
Bending metal
Sheet metal workers might be called upon to install ductwork, lay a copper-clad roof or to cut and apply siding to a church steeple. It’s one of many crafts learned through apprenticeships. In this video, Joshua A. Moore, Coordinator of Apprenticeship and Training at Sheet Metal Workers L.U.#12 J.A.T.F., talks about the training and the opportunities.
An alternative path to technology jobs
When someone mentions apprenticeships, do you think building-trades and getting your hands dirty? Not so fast! The apprenticeships that Tarelle Irwin, Assistant Director of Talent Development and Apprenticeships at Apprenti, describes in this video span a spectrum of technology occupations—from software testing to cybersecurity.
A path to training or employment
The A. Philip Randoph Institute prepares candidates for training programs and/or get entry-level jobs through an eight-week crash course that provides certifications in six different disciplines, from construction safety to mold remediation. In this video, Institute Vice President, DeWitt Walton talks about the opportunity.
Iron work takes nerves of steel
Have a little bit of dare devil in you? Training to be an Iron Worker is a route to jobs where you might hang from safety harnesses to erect buildings or bridges. In this video, Rick Pireaux, Training Director for Iron Workers Local 3, describes the work and the apprenticeship program that leads to it.
Growing talent from the inside
DMI Companies introduces their new automation technician’s training program, as described by Katie Hager, workforce development manager, and recent apprentice graduate, Bruce Ellsworth an Automation Technician.
Start from anywhere to find employment
Hear about Goodwill’s Youthworks program, which offers paid training as well as post-secondary coaching and services for high school grads, and connect to program coordinator Whitney Miles.
Apprenticeships to take you to the big game
NEP Group established its own apprenticeship for employees interested in becoming mobile unit engineers. Hear from George Ribich, a graduate of the program, as he talks about what you learn and how it takes you from in the shop to the big game.
Create your own path at UPS
Anissa Zambruno, now a human resources business partner manager with UPS, coaches viewers on how to leverage internal opportunities like the education assistance program and internal training opportunities for jobs ranging from package handling to management.
Making video game design your job
Schell Games staff – Dwayne Waite Jr, Marketing Manager and Sara Kissell Vieira, Learning and Development Specialist – share about the new apprenticeship program for those interested in the components of video game design from beginning to end.
Ramp Up Your Earnings with YearUp
Anita White, Associate Director of Enrollment at Year Up Pittsburgh, talks about their year-long training program for recent high school graduates to help them launch into the world of work.
Fitting, welding, HVAC, and more
Anthony Marshall, recruiter for Steamfitters Local Union #449, shares about the pathway to and through the apprenticeship to becoming a journeyman and beyond whether in healthcare, construction, or retail venues.
Bringing film and theater career opportunities to Pittsburgh
Morgan Overton shares about the quickly growing organization, CREATE PA: Pittsburgh Film and Theater Works!, which provides practical, hands-on training opportunities for people of all ages to get their start in a variety of positions behind the scenes in the film and theater industries that lead straight into jobs.
WGU offers a different approach to higher ed
Alison Bell, Regional Vice President for Western Governors University, shares about the unique model the university uses to support students in an online format at each step of their educational journey to ensure that no one is left behind.
