Ost - Quick look at three profiles

[Music] >>RAIN AMRAIS: Occupational Skills Training was absolutely the perfect fit. >>ALAN DITTMAR: I think the Occupational Skills Training is a great place to start. >>BENEDICTO SOLARES: If I don't have this training, I probably, I don't have even a job. >>RAIN AMRAIS: I was laid off, and I qualified for the TAA program, which is the Trade Act Adjustment, where the federal government pays for retraining for people whose jobs have gone overseas. In the TAA program there are some strict rules about how it can be used. And one of the things is, you have to be able to show that you can live while you're doing your training. And you also have to be able to be hireable when your training is finished. So, for me, I had to pick something that would be short enough that I could do it before I ran out of money and which would also get me into a job. >>KAY HUST: For Rain , finding the OST program was a godsend because it allowed her to continue with her life being as close to normal as possible and still learn a new trade. >>RAIN AMRAIS: The program coordinators and program staff were very knowledgable about the qualifications I needed to get in order to get my license and really helped me set up a programthat was going to work. So that, you know, by the time my one year internship is up I will have my license and be ready to go. [music] >>ALAN DITTMAR: Once I was discharged from the military, I looked for jobs, and most jobs and employers wouldn't suit my, my needs as far as my disabilities were concerned. So that's what led me through the VA voc rehab program, which in turn introduced me to Occupational Skills Training. And it's a very good way to get on the job training simultaneously with their educational training. >>RICH MAYO: You can structure the education for the employee to meet your skill set needs, so you get to get that mix between the information from academia into what real world skills you really need, and you can create a training program that benefits you and helps you to groom the employee into the person that you need. The students when they first come in are needing help and need a lot of attention. But somewhere in the middle it switches where some of the skills and things they've learned through going to PCC come back in meetings and other types of engagements with other employees, they share some of that more current information with the people working here. And so we've found that that exchange of information creates a win-win. [music] >>BENEDICTO SOLARES: I injured my back, and it's not easy to find a job when you have a injury. My counselor tried to find me something where I can do easy; something light. >>TIM HENDRICKS: Occupational Skills Training gives that injured worker a leg up. You know, it's a wonderful program. If you put your energy into it, treat your training site like it's a job, and then you take advantage of the classes that are offered to you, you can get out of it what you put into it. >>BENEDICTO SOLARES: It's a big change because I'm learning a lot of things and in my futurethey're going to help me a lot. If someday the company is not going to be here, or they make changes, I can find another job. [music] >>RAIN AMRAIS: You couldn't get this kind of experience in a classroom, in however many years you wanted to spend. So it's, in that sense it is absolutely wonderful for eventually being able to get a job, because I will have actual real experience. >>ALAN DITTMAR: The job retraining has changed my life because it's allowed me to remain active in the workforce and not be concerned with being laid off or fired because of my disabilities. >>BENEDICTO SOLARES: Now, the job what I have, I can support my family. I would like to tell the people, if they find somebody can help them to be trained, and can have a better job, or a better life. �