With the approach of the school year, a new website is providing access to over 5,000 education and training programs, and offering users information about the career they’re seeking and where to get the training to prepare for it.
Increasingly, adults are heading back to school to improve their career prospects and earning power, and are turning to CareerBridge.Wa.Gov (www.CareerBridge.Wa.Gov) for answers from the state’s first education “consumer reports” website.
In many cases, Career Bridge details how many students completed an educational program, whether they got a job, and how much they earned-providing a new level of accountability and transparency for those considering where to go to school, and what to study.
Ultimately, Career Bridge enables potential students to sort through dozens, if not hundreds of training programs, and enroll in one that matches their interests and is likely to lead to a living-wage job.
The website also connects to employment data from the state’s Employment Security Department so users can learn whether an occupation is in demand, what it pays on average and its projected growth rate.
“Education can be costly in both time and money. This online database makes it easier to find the training that will make you competitive for the job you seek” said Eleni Papadakis, executive director of the website’s sponsoring agency, the Workforce Training and Education Coordinating Board. “The consumer report side of Career Bridge means you can find the training that best suits your needs and budget.”
High school students involved in career planning are also using Career Bridge to chart their next educational step. The site includes an Explore Careers area that allows students to view their interests and abilities and how they align with a potential career. The site also shows students ways to pay for their education through federal and state grants, scholarships, tax credits and work study.
The Workforce Training and Education Coordinating Board is a partnership of labor, business and government, dedicated to helping Washington residents obtain and succeed in family-wage jobs, while meeting employers’ needs for skilled workers.