The Penn Foster Blog

Above all else, Penn Foster is dedicated to creating positive outcomes for our students. Earning their diploma, getting that promotion, continuing onto higher education - these are all outcomes we strive to help our student obtain. Through the dedication and hard work from our partners, Penn Foster has achieved a historic level of success with more than 44,000 high school, career school and college graduates in 2016. Of those graduates who were employed and responded to an outcomes survey, 78% cited a positive change in their job status. Significantly, post-graduate surveys show Penn Foster graduates are more confident than ever, and are finding jobs in high-demand fields, including allied health, skilled trades, hospitality and early childhood education, as a result of their level of preparedness.

Almost every organization struggles with skills gaps, in one form or another. A skill gap is a gap between what employers want or need their employees to be able to do, and what those employees can actually do when they walk into work.1 In the manufacturing industry, 82% of executives report skills deficiencies in production roles have a significant impact on their ability to meet customer demand.2 In the service industry, soft skills like "customer service" and "problem-solving" are of the highest importance, yet 89% of executives in a Wall Street Journal survey reported having a very or somewhat difficult time finding people with the requisite attributes.3 For employers facing skills shortages, the impact can result in decreased productivity and efficiency, missed opportunities, and higher expenses.

As the year draws to a close, we took a look back to review which topics garnered the most interest on Penn Foster Partners this year. In 2016, our readers were eager to learn how to build bridges to connect with millennials in the workplace and how to best serve nontraditional learners. Notable themes included retention of students and employees, innovative education solutions, and how to connect with nontraditional students. The biggest take home point is that it's critically important to connect with the students and employees you aim to serve in order to understand what their needs are. Thank you for your readership in 2016, and without further ado, here are the top 10 blog posts from this year!

As the year draws to a close, we like to take the time to celebrate all we've been able to accomplish this year through the hard work and support from our partners. Together this year, we've made a tremendous impact on the lives of our 44,000 graduates! Our partnerships with employers, career colleges, youth and for-purpose organizations, Workforce Investment Boards, and school districts have all played a critical role in shaping the futures of so many deserving individuals.

Workforce Investment Boards play a critical role in America's workforce development system. Job seekers go to WIBs with varying work experience and education but with the common goal of obtaining relevant knowledge and skills to gain employment and contribute to the American economy. Workers learn in-demand skills, which improves the quality of the workforce and enables local businesses to succeed.

As election post-mortems continue, a growing confidence-in-the future gap has driven a tidal wave of engagement as both sides of the aisle grapple with the growing populist anger. This gap in confidence in our nation's powerful institutions presents us with a challenge as well as an opportunity. As a leading skills organization focused on building competencies, career pathways and employment matching for today's evolving workforce, Penn Foster has a role to play in helping Americans build stronger futures. We're all anxious to build a nation where we can life each other up, and we believe education is the cornerstone sector to start:

It can be downright heartbreaking: A qualified applicant lands a job interview, only to botch the opportunity by making an interviewing mistake that could have been avoided. In fact, job applicants make more mistakes during the interview than during any other step of the hiring process, according to a survey of 2,100 chief financial officers by Accountemps.1 Here are some common interview mistakes that you can prepare your students to avoid:

Each year, Penn Foster takes time to celebrate an exemplary Penn Foster graduate. The Graduate of the Year is selected by student peers and a cross-functional Penn Foster committee. Graduates are encouraged to enter in the contest by submitting an essay about their Penn Foster experience, why graduating is an important milestone in their life, and what their next steps are post-graduation. This year, we could not be more proud to announce the winner, who perfectly exemplifies the grit, determination, and passion that we admire in our students and graduates. Congratulations to our 2016 Graduate of the Year, Omar Haughton! This is his story.

Penn Foster was recently asked to present at the NJCA's Professional Development Innovation Webinar Series. The webinar addressed the need for skilled candidates for today's job market, why it's important to offer post-secondary courses and create career pathways for Job Corps students in particular, and how individual Job Corps centers can offer programs for in-demand skilled trades on center.