There is a paradox in our society that astounds us. It astonishes educators and government. And it frustrates both industry and labour. How is it that youth unemployment rates continue to increase and at the same time industry and labour cannot find enough skilled workers to keep up with demand?

This is the paradox that the Skills Canada – Ontario team is working to eradicate.

The biggest challenge that we face is the perception that surrounds careers in the skilled trades and technologies. It is widely held by many young people and their parents that these jobs are boring, dirty, and low-paying.

In fact, the opposite is true. People who are employed in the skilled trades and technologies are virtually guaranteed long, productive, and stable careers. They use the most sophisticated technology and they make above-average salaries.

This paradox must be addressed if we hope to succeed in the 21st century. The skills shortage is critical and without a concerted effort by industry, labour, education, and government our place in the global economy will surely suffer.

At Skills Canada – Ontario we have developed the tools to make a difference.

Hey friends. I hope you’ve found this website useful so far. I know I sure have. We have made some changes to the design and looking into hosting companies. GreenGeeksReviews.info was promising but we went for a deal we found for iPage. Initially we has some htaccess troubles but luckily we found the htaccess tutorial on hostingmanual.net and quickly fixed it. Anyway, back to the case study.

This website came in handy for an assignment I had for the Careers Studies course that I have been taking. Our teacher asked us to conduct information interviews with someone who is currently working in a field we are interested in.

First, I had to research different careers – that’s where this website proved to be very useful. With so many career choices to research, this website narrowed down those choices for me. I am really interested in woodworking and found the description about Cabinetmakers to be exactly what I was looking for.

After choosing a career to research, the next step was to find someone to interview. Although I thought that this would be difficult, finding someone was rather easy. It turns out that my cousin’s friend, Mike graduated from a Woodworking Technician program a few years ago.

I contacted Mike and set up the interview with him on a day suited both our schedules.

Mike was young, energetic guy who had lots to share about his career. Like me, Mike wasn’t sure what he wanted to do after high school. Growing up in a rural community gave him lots of opportunities, many of which involved working with his hands, which he loved to do.

Throughout his school Mike took tech class available to him. It’s what he enjoyed and excelled at. Of all the classes he took, his favourite was woodworking. He enjoyed the creativity, attention to detail and satisfaction that were involved in each project.

After researching various career choices – like I am doing right now – Mike enrolled in a 2 year Woodworking Technician Certificate program at a community college. Through this education, Mike gained the advanced theoretical knowledge of the trade – after all, building anything from wood is more than cutting and gluing a few pieces of wood together.

Immediately after graduation, Mike found a job working for a company that produces trim and flooring for houses – just one of the many areas of a career in Cabinetmaking. And, as Mike is the only person on staff with an educational background related to woodworking, he operates and maintains all of the machinery used in the various processes.

Mike also builds cabinetry, furniture and other wood products as a hobby. His skills also come in handy around the house – last summer he helped my cousin build a deck on his house.

And imagine, Mike could start his own company and become his own boss.

This assignment was a great opportunity to explore a career choice that I may have never considered before. If you are in the process of exploring careers in the skilled trades and technologies, find someone like Mike to chat with. It really opened my eyes, and I’m sure that you’ll discover the same.

We are an organization that is dedicated to promoting the skilled trades and technologies as viable first-choice career options for young people. Just read a hosting review and get a website! Make sure you know what a good domain name is.

Use this site to get the information you need to make an informed career choice.

If you have questions or would like more information, call us or e-mail us.

We can arrange to have someone come to your school to talk to you, your friends and your teachers about jobs in the skilled trades and technologies.

If you’ve already made up your mind and want to hone your skills, why not consider competing in the 15th Ontario Technological Skills Competition? We can tell you what you need to do to compete.

And if we don’t have the answers to your questions, we’ll find someone who does.

Skills Canada – Ontario is not-for-profit organization that is dedicated to young people and the continued prosperity of Ontario’s industry.

Through our partnerships in education, industry, labour, and government, we are helping young people brighten their futures and industry strengthen theirs.

By promoting careers in the skilled trades and technologies, Skills Canada – Ontario is providing young people with the tools they need to succeed. Working to equip industry with employees it needs, we are also ensuring that Ontario remains competitive in the global marketplace.

Each year, our innovative programming expands. Each year, our partnerships grow. Each year, our team reaches thousands of young people across the province. And yet, we are barely scratching the surface. More needs to be done.