Career Development
You hear it all the time these days: Adulting is hard. Now imagine trying to “adult” without the resources, the support network, or the privilege that your classmates or neighbors may have. That’s where we come in.
The Challenge
Our students tend to take on personal and financial responsibilities at a young age that most people don’t have until their late 20s or 30s or beyond. Those responsibilities don’t come cheap, and many young people that we serve ended up dropping out of high school in order to make money just to survive. It’s a double-edged sword: they drop out of school to get short-term work, but they still need an education to get ahead in the long run.
Our Response
At PYB, we pay our students a modest amount every month to help them ease their financial burdens. That way, they might only need to work part-time outside of PYB, if at all. We’ll also step in and provide assistance with emergency needs such as food, rent, or utilities so that students can focus on their long-term goals.
While we’re definitely a good resource to help our students find part-time work during their time at PYB, the focus of our youth employment program is to prepare them for their long term careers. Students take career development and job training classes at PYB, in addition to the vocational training they do on our construction or technology sites. Then once a student has graduated from PYB and has been successfully placed in college, an apprenticeship, or a career, we’ll continue providing additional support as they move further along their career path.
Similar to an athletic coach, a PYB career coach helps students hone in on their unique talents and abilities and helps them refine the skills they need to get the job, and the career, they want. By getting to know the students and their strengths, a career coach can help students determine what they need in terms of additional education and training. They stick with students along the way and, more importantly, are available to help students long after they graduate from our program.
Ongoing job readiness training throughout all parts of our program helps students strengthen their work ethic and learn what is expected of them in the workplace. Wherever they are in the community, on the worksite, or in the classroom, students learn how important it is to show up every day, on time, with a good attitude. Throughout their PYB experience, our students learn to live up to high expectations and take pride in a job well done.
Our Method
Weekly job readiness classes provide students with a comprehensive youth job training program where they explore possible careers, participate in internships and job shadows, and hone their interviewing and resume-writing skills.
Once a student has a feel for the type of job they’re looking for, their case management team helps them create an individualized plan to get there. We tap into our existing relationships with a broad variety of education and employment partners to make sure that our students have all the information, support, and connections they need to move forward. We’ll ask them to do the hard work of preparing for their chosen career path, but we’ll be there with them every step of the way with guidance and encouragement.
Student Success
On average, over 75% of our YouthBuild graduates complete high school and move on to college, an apprenticeship, or a career. In our Bridge program, over 95% of our graduates are placed in an apprenticeship or career in the trades.
Become a student
We can help you figure out your career path, make a plan, and connect you to where you want to go. Get in touch for information on how to become a student.
Connect with PYB