Building It Better Together: Training for the hottest jobs
PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- Thinking about your next career move isn't always easy with some career tracks leading to more prosperous futures than others.
There's a trend to provide more skill training for the jobs that are in demand, and some of those programs here in the Delaware Valley provide a list of training opportunities for just that.
Electrical workers union, IBEW Local 98, is the first in the nation to use Virtual Reality-- or VR-- training for its students.
When asked how this type of training keeps them competitive, Instructor Shawn McCarthy replied, "We can go anywhere in VR, we can train them on anything. Whatever is conceived in the real word, can be done digitally!"
Building It Better Together: The state of our job market is strong
In today's job market, finding people with the right skills to get the job done can sometimes be more difficult than the skill itself.
McCarthy wants to make sure apprentices at their union stay one step ahead.
"It's very competitive. We have an aptitude test, you have to pass to get in," said third-year apprentice John Knox.
Once in, the 5-year program includes 8,000 hours of on the job training, with 1,200 hours of schooling in a traditional classroom, and an entire VR room with eight more setups on the way.
"What we're seeing now, this apprenticeship model that has been used the skilled trade, going into other industries where it hasn't been used," said apprenticeship program director for Philadelphia Works, Mark Genua.
Philadelphia Works is an organization that funds job training and job placement among other things.
"The two biggest industries outside the skill trade-- healthcare and IT, we're seeing a big growth in that model with employers in the region," he said.
And it's not just health care, but home healthcare.
Bayada Home Healthcare has 6,500 nurses across the region and in Maryland-- treating and rehabilitating patients dealing with illnesses-- like ALS and cancer-- in the comfort of their own homes.
"Bayada has a pretty involved training program to get the nurses up to speed to be able to care for the patients in the home," said Tracey Tillger.
Clinical manager Tracey Tiggler says applicants have to have a years worth of experience at a hospital or nursing home before crossing over into home healthcare.
She works out of the Bucks County location that oversees 150 nurses who have about 40 cases right now, and because they work shifts, hours on the job include four to eight or 12-16.
"So we try to reach out to the colleges, to the programs that are in the area to say hey, this is this is nursing at its truest form," Tiggler said. "You can do what you do in a hospital in somebody's home, and, and you're qualified to do that."
Employers from different industries always require a set of base skills-- which include-- writing and speaking clearly, working with well with other, and making decisions.
But it's these types of training programs, that are giving the future's workforce an edge in the market.
