Middle-Skill Workers

Although it has now become more common for high school graduates to go on to get a four year degree, this is not always the way to ensure a lucrative career. There are a number of valuable positions in high demand that do not necessarily require a four year college degree. Often, post-secondary education such as an associate degree, apprenticeships or occupational certificate is enough to secure a great career path.

Recently there has actually been a shortage of skilled-workers available to fill these positions. Such a shortage has led to a demand for workers and the Council on Competitiveness has the need for national attention to this growing issue. The Council urges the need to train middle-skill workers and keep these types of jobs in our country.

There is often a negative connotation associated with lower-skill jobs, though this is not the case as many of these jobs pay more than median wage or salary. CNC (computer numerically controlled) machinists often make over $60K annually including their overtime wages. This kind of money could make one consider a career change!

Community colleges offer vocational programs to help students prepare for skilled trades. The Strengthening Employment Clusters to Organize Regional Success (SECTORS) Act of 2008 wants to provide grants for these particular training programs to strengthen the workforce. Some of these high demand jobs include: paralegals, heating and A/C installers, computer specialists, repair and maintenance (especially in manufacturing) and health technicians (dental hygienists, physical therapy assistants and emergency medical technicians). Many of these occupations will be around for a long time, which will provide for job security.

So, whether you are a recent high school graduate or someone stuck in a career slump, check out these middle-skill jobs. Your next career could be just a certificate away.

Don’t Check Out Early

You’re sick of your job. Everyone gets there at one point, it’s inescapable. As a species, human beings, whether they want to admit it or not, need change. We crave new challenges. It can be in small ways like a book that takes our world view to task, or a new sport that tests the limits of our body. It’s this craving for new experiences that drives us, and ultimately shapes our displeasure with the same routine, day in and day out, at work.

Like millions of your disenfranchised brethren, you’ve probably placed your résumé on one of the multitude of job boards populating the Internet and are currently drumming your fingers, impatiently waiting for a return on your investment.

That’s a great step, but you have to remain mindful of one little thing -- don’t check out early. Don’t give up on your current job in anticipation of your new one.

Internet job searches can take a painfully long time; at least months if not a full year. In that time, you’ll be jeopardizing your current paycheck as well as your new job prospects.

Nothing will aid you in your search for a new job better than a sterling record at your current and previous jobs. Safeguarding that should be your primary concern for the present. You’ll be relying on your current boss for a recommendation to your new boss. The last thing you want to do is spoil your entire performance with a few weeks of chicanery.

If waiting the months for a job search to be successful is too much to bear, try some different strategies that will also require your continued best performance. In addition to the outside companies you’re exploring, don’t forget to explore internal possibilities as well. A great way to cure the doldrums of your current job is to seek promotion or transfer to another department or division that might better stimulate you.

Marketing Yourself for Interview Success

Chances are, someone in your life thinks you’re great.

It might be your mom, grandfather, best friend, imaginary friend – whoever – point is, someone believes in you. There are three very basic steps to applying this knowledge of your supreme greatness to your job interview preparation for very positive results.


1. Believe in Your Product

If you don’t already think this, you need to start by cultivating the belief that you are the bee’s knees, completely awesome, unparalleled best choice for the position.

A big difference between a “salesperson” and someone helping a customer get what he or she needs is that impression you get that salespeople couldn’t care less about the actual product. The less they care about the product, the more apparent it is that they’re only in it for the money. And if they don’t even care about or believe in the product, why on earth would you?

Keep in mind that it’s even worse to fake this belief than to not have it at all. Then you become a used car salesperson trying to convince a family of four that the 2004 midnight blue "X-Plode" they’re looking at is the safest choice. It’s incredibly transparent, everyone involved will know it right away, and it will bring up all sorts of questions like “why do you need to fake it if you really are the best candidate.”


2. Know Your Product

Become an expert in you-ology. Read some common interview questions. Brainstorm about your best answers. Practice the interview process with friends who can take it seriously (unlike my friends who kept exclaiming “you’re fired” The Donald style during our run-through).

Practicing your interview is not about memorization! For crying out loud, making note-cards and rehearsing your answers to be the same each time is the worst thing you can do. You need spontaneity and spice to keep them listening. How often have you taken a class where it was clear the teacher was an expert in the field, but had lost that “spark” somewhere along the way? The result is a Ben Stein monotone droning on while your audience falls asleep – not cool!

Get familiar with what your honest answers would be to all of the basic questions. Ponder the possible responses to the more complicated questions about goals and why you think you’d be a good fit for the company. If your answers start to sound rehearsed: stop! Take a day or so to think about other things and revisit your interview prep the night before the big day for a brief review.


3. Educate Others About Your Product

The best sales people are the ones who’ve sold you something, rung up the sale, handed you the package, and said “have a nice day” before you even realize you hadn’t planned on spending anything.

This normally has a very negative “and that’s how they get ya” connotation, but in very few instances, interviewing and charity donation gathering, for example, it can be a great method for getting important work done.

An assistant hiring manager once pulled me aside to comment that the reason I had my new position was because of the way I spoke so matter-of-factly about my abilities. She said I’d made it so clear that I couldn’t imagine anyone doing a better job than me that she started to believe it by the end of the interview.

That’s it. Those three relatively small things can help you get a position you when you might otherwise be forgotten in a large pack of interviewers vying for the same spot. There’s confidence involved, sure, but even more so it’s about selling yourself (not like that, guttermind).

Just remember that the more you believe in your product, the better you can sell it to others. The more you know about your product, the more at ease you’ll seem and they won’t be able to surprise you with any trick questions. Being calm and collected will help you seem like the obvious choice for the job rather than a nervous salesperson bent on getting that large commission.