KALAMAZOO (WKZO AM/FM) — A program that is designed to help people figure out what they want to be when they grow up…career wise is being introduced in the state’s high schools.’
The Michigan Talent Investment Agency is promoting the use of “Pathfinder” as a guide to help people who want to switch careers, or start careers, find a path to accomplish it, and in some cases whether it’s a good career move.
It not only offers a long list of potential careers, it also includes a comprehensive list of the places that have the training courses needed to land that job.
It will also provide data on how much it will cost to get the training, cost differentials at the different learning institutions, how many jobs are available in the field and how much they pay.
It can be a dose of reality that may dampen some dreams but invigorate others.
Students may find there are not a lot of high paying openings in the field they are interested in, or no openings at all, that the career field will soon be replaced by a computer chip. Better to find out now than after you have made it your major in College.
Poke a business person these days and ask them what their biggest problem is, and many will say its finding the people for the critical skilled positions they need to grow or maintain their businesses.
There are a lot of high paying jobs out there that are vacant simply because there is no one trained to take them on. By last estimate, about 100,000 jobs according to the Snyder Administration.
That unmet need has only grown in the last few years when there were just 70,000 jobs they couldn’t fill.
The Pathfinder is also designed to help steer people to those openings.
The MTIA, K-RESA and Kalamazoo Schools held a joint news conference this morning to announce they will be introducing it in the schools here too.
