Occupational Analysis and Curriculum Development

Occupational Analysis and Curriculum Development

Project Summary

In this project, short-term job training and referral options were researched for ABE/ESL learners around the state. The goal was to find training, certification programs, or short-term coursework ABE providers can refer ESL learners to, which can lead to full-time, living wage employment and career options. There are many resources available, with varying educational and language requirements, income eligibility, and participant costs. Resource information is presented for a variety of short-term (6 weeks - 12 months) training options plus their requirements, costs, and contact information.

The findings of this project are presented in two parts. Section one describes organizations and partnerships that provide (often multiple skill area) training programs, and section two gives background information, growth and wage statistics, and a sampling of training options from around the state for fourteen occupational areas.

Most of these occupational areas fall into the categories of high demand by both the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) and the U.S. government. Minnesota high demand occupational areas are shown below.

Training options for six of the eight industrial divisions listed are included in this report. More information on the Minnesota Job Vacancy Survey can be found on the Labor Market Information Office website www.deed.state.mn.us/lmi/publications/jobvacancy.htm

The U.S. Department of Labor maintains a website which lists national high demand industries. The chart below shows the industries expected, during the period 2004-2014 to have the greatest need for employees as projected by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and to evolve and create a large number of new jobs. Asterisks ** denote career areas with training options included in this report.

Industry

Number

Advanced Manufacturing **

91,000

Aerospace

18,000

Automotive **

451,000

Biotechnology

7,000

Construction **

1,860,000

Energy

130,000

Financial Services **

2,450,000

Geospatial Technology

33,000

Health Care **

4,992,000

Homeland Security

970,000

Hospitality **

6,861,000

Information Technology

208,000

Retail

3,176,000

Transportation **

990,000

Cross Industry Occupations

10,880,000

Total

33,117,000

There are various online resources that were helpful in this project. First, the website www.iseek.org is a valuable resource for general occupational information, as well as locating training programs in MN colleges, private vocational schools, and some nonprofit organizations. The website www.careervoyages.gov offers occupational information on high-demand industries plus links to local college, apprenticeship, and other training programs. Finally, www.onetcenter.org provides comprehensive occupational information, listings of required skills and knowledge, common tasks, and local and national occupational statistics, projections, and average wage information.

Important Findings and Recommendations from the Project

Especially in the Twin Cities area, options are plentiful for advanced or high advanced ESL learners who finished high school in their countries, and NOT plentiful for lower level ESL learners and/or those without a high school diploma. Some options available for non-high school graduates include hospitality training through HIRED/Normandale Community College for placement into hotel industry jobs, some CNA trainings (although many job placements require a high school diploma), and a Minnesota Resource Center / Minneapolis ABE collaboration called Career Launch, for jobs in healthcare and office support. More training resources, or partnerships with organizations who do large-scale placements for intermediate ESL learners who lack a high school diploma could be an area of interest and growth for (especially Twin Cities) ...