As K-12 schools across the country and Virginia continue to face significant teacher shortages, Virginia’s Community Colleges’ Career Switcher Program, EducateVA, is helping fill the vacancies with new teachers who have previously worked careers as doctors, lawyers, pharmacists and everything in between. To better understand how…
It’s a pretty straightforward notion: to advance in your career, you need more skills and certifications to justify the move up the career ladder. There are many training programs within the FastForward programs at your local community college that are natural building blocks within a career….
So, you successfully earned a workforce credential from one of Virginia’s 23 community colleges? Congratulations! Now, it’s time to switch gears and begin your new full-time job: applying to jobs. Job applications can be daunting; there are often many steps, tedious questionnaires, and every employer has…
Sometimes, all it takes is having a positive attitude, working hard and connecting with a good leader to help you accomplish your goals. While higher education can be intimidating, career coaches from community colleges across Virginia shared their best advice for getting started back at school….
Virginia needs more welders, particularly maritime welders. The state has not been immune to the staffing shortages affecting industries across the country. By 2023, the American Welding Society estimates that the industry will be short by 375,000 welders. With the average welder 55 years or older,…
Virginia’s Community Colleges are gearing up to train thousands of workers to help rebuild the commonwealth’s aging roads and bridges. The Virginia Infrastructure Academy (VIA) will coordinate, scale up and replicate successful infrastructure-related community college training programs. The goal is to produce a total of 35,000…
Carpentry is arguably one of the oldest trades or professions in the world. For millennia, humans have been working with wood to build homes, cross vast expanses and ship goods across the globe. Over time, carpentry has evolved to include new innovative techniques that require the…
While you are working hard earning credentials in the classroom or out in the field, it’s also important to start planning for your next job. Attending a career fair can be a great place to make connections, learn about an industry and figure out your future…
Welding and manufacturing roles play an essential part in our society’s infrastructure and impact our lives every day—from the vehicles that we drive, to the buildings we live in and even the ships that protect us. Experienced welders are highly sought after throughout the country and…
It’s hard to believe that another summer has come to an end, but here we are right on the edge of a new semester. With change often comes nerves. But there’s no reason to feel worried. We spoke with some of our career coaches about how…