• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

Career Schools Focus on Real-World Skills

Posted on: Monday, 21 November 2005, 03:02 CST

By Lowich, Sandi Lee

Life in the real world requires work skills that may be best acquired at a business or computer training school, instead of a traditional college or university. The difference is that the focus at these schools is on what the student will be doing on the job in their chosen field, with no general courses added.

"We're really career- focused," says president Zafar Khizer, who founded PC Age Career Institute, with locations in Edison, Newark and Parsippany, in 1991. "Students are only required to take courses in their field of concentration, not general courses."

"We're much more careerfocused," echoes Scott Shaw, vice president of business development at Lincoln Educational Services (LES) Corporation, West Orange, the parent company of Lincoln Tech and Cittone Institute. Its students "know what field they want to work in," whether it is cars or health, and want to get a certificate in that field as soon as possible.

Established in 1946, LES schools offer flexible day and evening schedules so students may work and attend school at the same time.

Lincoln Tech, with locations in Mahwah and Union, offers programs in automotive, diesel, IWAC (heating and airconditioning) repair, electronics, drafting design and computer aided design (CAD), allied health and computers.

The Cittone Institute, with locations in Edison, Paramus and Mount Laurel. ha, an Allied Health division and an Information Technology (IT) division.

"We're evaluating carpentry" as a possible new program, and developing a electrical program, Shaw says. Stenography has fallen by the wayside since it is no longer in demand.

Students can earn a certificate in the medical programs in about seven months, and in the automotive programs, from 12 to 13 months. Tuition varies depending on the program - from $10,000 to $14,000 for medical programs; $10,000 to $20,000 for programs; $16,000 for the HVAC; and $15,000 for the new EST (electronic systems technology) program.

Each has its own advisory board, with six to 12 members that meet or twice a year, Shaw says.

About 27 percent of LES students come right out of high school, and the remainder are older students, currently up to age 60. "We appeal to college dropouts and those displaced from a job who need to get new skills or are tired of a lowpaying job and want something with long-term prospects," Shaw says.

PC Age Career Institute offers an intensive nine-month certificate program that is "a short route for a great career," Khizer says. The school also offers a part-time evening or weekend certificate program that can be completed in 14 months, and "is close to offering IT courses online." Tuition is $15,000 for the IT program, and $10,000 for the Medical Assisting program.

PC Age Career Institute is best suited to working people who don't have the time to go to a full-time college, he says. "Our students earn the same income after three or four years of employment as those going to college."

Curriculum changes at the school are directly related to vendors and Microsoft operating system changes, Khizer says. The school is currently teaching Windows 2003 and Unix. In response to the job market, the school discontinued teaching E-business, similar to Java, when the E-commerce bubble burst. This was because students could not be placed in jobs.

An advisory board with five members of the business community (from both the IT and medical assisting fields) meets annually to discuss what to teach and give feedback, Khizer says.

Most of the 200-plus PC Age Career Institute students on both campuses are aged from 24 to 45 years old, but there are also some who are retired and some who are seeking a second career, says Khizer.

Students at Chubb Institute, a job training school with campuses in North Brunswick, Cherry Hill, Jersey City and Parsippany, experience full immersion training. "They get a taste of what they will be doing on the job immediately," says North Brunswick Campus President Maria Veglia.

Chubb Institute was founded about 30 years ago by Chubb Corporation. It was the company's impression that college had not caught up with offering the skills needed at the company, so it formed its own training school, which expanded into 27 schools in several states, according to Veglia. Chubb Institute's mission is to educate and prepare students for successful design, information technology and medical careers.

Chubb is "more appropriate for students who have never experienced true success in school, and may not have the commitment to go through a four-year school," she says. It takes 12 months to complete a full-time technical program, from nine to 14 months for a fulltime allied health program, and 20 months for the part-time evening program.

With about 425 students at each of its New Jersey campuses, Chubb Institute offers programs in computer networking graphic design and animation, medical billing and coding, and, brand new in the last six months, massage therapy, medical assisting and surgical technician. The school is considering adding a criminal justice program.

As an accredited school, Chubb Institute is required to have an advisory board meet twice annually "to evaluate courses and textbooks" for each of Chubb's six programs.

"It's important to offer programs in demand," savs Veglia. "We make modifications based on the job market, and update constantly."

At the same time, "there's a fine line between teaching what's new and what's required," says Veglia, noting that employers are not always equipped with the latest software and technology.

Tuition at the school is $10,000 to $20,000, and financial assistance is available to those who qualify. Diplomas are offered in the two technical and four medical programs. Students then have the option of earning an Associate's or Bachelor's degree online.

The majority of students are between 25 and 29 years old, and 40 percent are between 18 and 24 years old, Veglia says. "We still continue to see some mid-life career changers," she says.

Gibbs College in Livingston, opened in Montclair in 1950 as Katharine Gibbs School, is a college that offers an Associate's degree in applied sciences, according to President Bill Ehrhardt. The school was renamed Gibbs College in 1999, and moved to its current up-to-date facility in Livingston in 2004.

There are some general education requirements, "but the vast majority of what students take is in their career field," says Ehrhardt. "We strive for a personalized approach to education."

The 1,200 Gibbs students can choose from a vast menu of curriculums including business administration, computer network administration, computer programming, criminal justice, hospitality management, visual communications and graphic art.

At its sister school and learning site for the college, Katharine Gibbs School in Piscataway, there are 850 students. Opened in 1984, students can earn a certificate in business administration, criminal justice, executive assistant, fashion merchandising, legal executive assistant, medical assistant and visual communications.

"We're constantly making minor revisions to the curriculum," says Ehrhardt. "The curriculum is industry-driven. We have a lot of checks and balances going on as it applies to technology."

While it's important to have the latest technology, Ehrhardt agrees with Veglia that "students have to know both old and new programs because companies sometimes don't update their systems."

Twice a year, in April and November, the business advisory board, with five to 10 members of the business community for each curriculum, "get together to make sure we're meeting the needs of students." Ehrhardt says that there are "tremendous resources" available to draw upon from the business community.

Tuition is $15,000 and up for the certificate programs, and financial aid is available to those who qualify. It takes 1 1/2 years to earn a degree if attending full-time, and 21 months for the part-time evening program. "There's a fine balance between home, work and school," says Ehrhardt. "We try to accommodate students."

And while Gibbs College is taking a look at offering online courses, "students appreciate learning from Gibbs' instructors with professional experience in their field," says Ehrhardt.

The student population "is very diverse," says Ehrhardt, generally with younger students, aged 18 to 25, attending the day program, and older working adults, ranging from 25 to 35, attending the evening program.

"When people typically think of Gibbs, they think of a mostly female population," says Ehrhardt.

That may have been true in 1950 when the New Jersey campus opened its doors, but Ehrhardt is quick to point out, "That's not true anymore." Now 51 percent of the student population is female, and 49 percent is male, he says. The criminal justice program has brought more males to the school, he says, while other programs such as hospitality management and visual communications have an equal mix of students.

"There are more men entering the college, and the faculty and staff replicate that," he says.

Medical assisting is a "hot," growing field right now, says Chubb's Veglia. Also hot are networking and graphic design, she says. At Gibbs College, business, accounting, marketing and criminal justice are hot fields, says Ehrhardt.

And computers are hot again, says Khizer. "The perception is wrong thatthere are no jobs in computers. Many people are living in the past. Computer jobs are quickly gaining speed again," he says.

To help students get jobs once they complete their education, each of these schools has comprehensive job placement services.

At Lincoln Tech, the record speaks for itself. There is a 90 percent job placement rate for the automotive fields, and an overall 86 percent placement rate.

"People come to us because they want a job," Shaw says. "We teach them resume and interview skills, grade them on attendance, make sure they dress well, have internships and externships, and have people who canvas the local marketplace."

Graduates go on to companies such as Mercedes-Benz, Goodyear, Paul Miller Auto and Ray Catena auto dealerships. From Cittone, graduates have accepted jobs at companies such as Comcast, Brooks Brothers and Verizon.

PC Age Career Institute offers three staff members in its twopart job placement service, Khizer says. The first component teaches students how to look for a job, and that includes resume writing and confidence-building. The second part is contacting companies and establishing relationships with them, so that they may consider hiring the school's graduates.

"Companies also contact us," says Khizer, indicating that this has been a banner year for hiring. "There are lots of openings. We don't have enough students for the jobs."

Companies such as AT&T, IBM, UPS, Lucent Technology and Siemans have hired graduates of PC Age, he says. Once they are placed, students can expect to earn $30,000 to $35,000 in IT, and $12 to $16 an hour in medical assisting, according to Khizer.

Chubb Institute also has a multipart Graduate Placement Department. Students prepare for job searches through resume and letter writing, and mock interviews. Then there's the sales component, says Veglia. Graduate Placement Department staff members go to area employers to recruit job orders. They send students to interviews and build relationships for externships.

"We offer lifetime graduate placement," says Veglia, meaning that whenever graduates lose a job or want to change jobs, the staff will help them find employment.

Companies that have hired Chubb Institute grads include Johnson & Johnson, Colgate Palmolive, Dendrite, Vonage and Robert Wood Johnson University Medical Center.

Gibbs has a Career Services Department with seven full-time employees. "They teach interview skills, resume writing, dressing for success, how to network and more," says Ehrhardt. On a quarterly basis, the school has a career fair one day and one evening.

These and other career schools play a key role in maintaining a skilled, high-tech workforce.

Copyright New Jersey Business & Industry Association Nov 01, 2005

Source: New Jersey Business

More News in this Category