Higher ed meets high tech.

• Author: King, Heather
• Position: Business Trends - Corporate training

Educating tech-savvy workers

With difficult economic times on the horizon, those new to the job world are faced with fewer employment options and an increasingly competitive field of applicants. Technical schools and colleges across the state provide individuals with specialized training in various vocations to secure their ability to move up the career ladder.

Craig Michalak, associate director of Professional Education at the University of Utah, explains, "We're seeing a resurgence of interest in education in general because people realize that, to be satisfied in their job and to be able to do a good job and seek new opportunities down the road, they have to have continuing education-lifelong education." The classes offered at the University of Utah's Office of Professional Education are designed for adult learners. Interactive sessions and team activities reflect what employees find in the workplace. Instructors are experienced professionals "practicing what they teach," providing results-oriented instruction rather than the theory often taught in traditional programs.

Developing Marketable Skills

Bridgerland Applied Technology College, with three campuses in northern Utah, provides adults with high-tech training that meets the criteria for entry-level positions in the technical industry. The college offers 18 full-time programs that have been carefully designed by working with local employers through industry advisory committees. "One of the unique qualities about Bridgerland is the open-entry/open-exit learning environment," superintendent Richard Maughan explains. "Students progress at their own rate of learning, which assures both the student and future employer that competencies will be mastered."

At Southern Utah's Dixie College, a follow-up assessment of the college's Applied Technology Education program found that 74 percent of students were employed at jobs directly related to their training at Dixie, and 86 percent of employers surveyed rated their Dixie College graduate as being in the "excellent" category when compared to other employees' preparedness for the job. This statistical data illustrates that technical education not only works but may prove invaluable on the job.

Like many Utahns, Diana Roising, a former non-profit marketing professional with more than 10 years experience, was disheartened when she attempted to switch gears and look for a new career. After nearly a year of unsuccessful interviews, her solution was...