The Penn Foster Blog

Apprenticeships have been a part of the U.S. educational system since long before the country declared its independence. Now apprenticeships are in vogue again. This traditional training method offers several advantages, and many people are wondering if apprenticeship programs are the future of education. 

With a healthcare boom underway and a growing gap of middle-skilled job candidates, it's time to rethink hiring practices and move from the familiar, reactive model to one that allows you and your practice to build a strong, dedicated talent pipeline - while decreasing your turnover rate.  

Imagine you have an open position for a management role in your business. Which would you rather do? Create a job post, sort through resumes, interview candidates, and eventually hire someone who might hopefully be the right fit, or promote a proven employee who already understands your business and your team? 

The healthcare industry has been booming for decades. While consistent growth brings plenty of opportunity, it also creates challenges. The skills gap in healthcare is real and pressing. To continue to meet the needs of their patients, healthcare employers need a strategy to attract and retain middle-skills talent. 

Destini Willis, a veteran and a mother, had skills before furthering her education, but she needed expert training to succeed in a new career after leaving the military. Here's her story.

Melissa Holstein is the employee every veterinary clinic and hospital hopes to hire. She's completely devoted to the work and always ready to learn something new. 

As the skills gap puts pressure on businesses in various industries, those businesses turn to staffing firms to fill open positions. There's just one problem; staffing firms are facing the same challenges as the businesses they're supporting. Record low unemployment rates, weak workforce participation rates and changing skills demands make finding the right temporary employee more difficult than ever. 

Depending on your perspective, the construction industry is facing either a serious problem, or a valuable opportunity. Throughout the building boom from 2012 to 2015, general contractors and construction companies struggled to find enough workers to do the job. Now, as growth levels off, general contractors and other industry leaders find that the construction skills gap is as pressing as ever. But that problem masks a valuable opportunity.

For many in the service industry, the struggle to balance life and a retail shift schedule leaves little time for chasing career aspirations or returning to a traditional brick and mortar institution. And the opportunity to apply for jobs with better hours, better pay, or greater responsibilities often require a high school diploma. This can leave valuable workers like Chantel Maull, a two-year employee of Church's Chicken without many options for improvement. But Chantel has a lot to celebrate having recently earned both a high school diploma and a promotion from her employer. 

Recruiting and retaining dedicated employees who are a good match for your company, and are passionate, reliable, and talented is a struggle for hiring managers in any industry. In a high-stress field such as animal medicine, it can be especially laborious for practice hiring managers to source, train, and retain skilled talent. It becomes even more so when your candidates need to meet certain prerequisites, such as experience in the field, basic knowledge of how animal medicine works, and - depending on the position - national credentials. Adding to the often arduous and expensive process, hiring managers or veterinarians also must balance the workload for current staff and attempt to ameliorate potential problems in order to avoid the higher than average turnover veterinary practices face.