SLO Partners, an initiative of the San Luis Obispo County Office of Education, recently announced the launch of the second season of its Hello Careers podcast. Launched in 2018 the podcast provides valuable insights and information for those interested in creating apprenticeship programs, and businesses who want to learn more about apprenticeship. The first season addressed issues such as whether a skills gap means an education and training gap, how to respond to a tight labor market and what happens when a major employer pulls out of your community. In the second season, host Mark Sylvester talks with the team at SLO Partners, graduates of the programs and businesses who have hired apprentices about a range of topics, including:
- Success stories, key learnings and organizational growth from the past year of apprenticeship
- What it takes to become an apprentice and how employers benefit from the programs
- Insights in matchmaking, managing expectations and building a successful program
- How to get educational management onboard your program
- How businesses obtain talent for current and future needs through nontraditional channels
- How apprenticeship affects team diversity
- Apprenticeship as a social responsibility and a big return on investment
- How apprenticeship can be a secret weapon for small businesses
- The future of apprenticeship
“The second season of the podcast takes a deep-dive into what it really takes to create a successful program,” said Paul Mathias-Fryer, Program Director at SLO Partners. “Our county is now one of the leading providers of apprenticeship programs in California so we have a lot of success stories to share, but also key takeaways from what we’ve learned along the way. It really is a must-listen for anyone interested in starting an apprentice program.
Nationwide, there are over 585,000 apprentices currently obtaining the skills they need to succeed while earning the wages they need to build financial security. There are more than 23,400 registered apprenticeship programs in the U.S. 3,229 of which were established last year.
All eight episodes of season two of the podcast are available at www.hellocareers.org/home/podcast-episodes/ or wherever you get your podcasts.
About SLO Partners
SLO Partners was formed in 2014 as an initiative of the San Luis Obispo County Office of Education to address college and career readiness among the county’s student population. Its mission is to engage business partners and educators in aligning workforce needs with career and college pathways that provide work experience opportunities to ensure that students have the skills and knowledge necessary for success in the workplace and businesses have the skilled workers required for a sound growing economy.
About the Hello Careers Podcast
The Hello Careers Podcast explores a system developed to align business needs with education and training. It’s proven to be invaluable for dozens of businesses and people looking to create a new life for themselves. We are firm believers that you must screen for attitude and train for aptitude. During the podcast we will be unpacking our insight to help you build partnerships and earn public support for an age old way of learning a skill – apprenticeship. We’ll address issues such as, where there’s a skills gap, is there an education and training gap? How do you respond to a tight labor market? What happens when the major employer pulls out of your community. If you’re looking to create an apprenticeship program or curious about what to do next, this show could be just the thing you’ve been looking for.