plus 1, Beware! Trade schools like Franklin Career Institute have funky finances, empty promises - New York Daily News

Beware! Trade schools like Franklin Career Institute have funky finances, empty promises - New York Daily News

Posted: 16 Jan 2011 06:59 AM PST

Pokress for News

Rachel Barrow got a certificate from the Franklin Career Institute but says her experience 'was just a nightmare.'

Trade schools promise exciting new challenges, career makeovers and endless job possibilities, but a Daily News probe found some in the city turn dreams to dust.

The News found school operators pulling in six-figure salaries, putting relatives on the payroll or paying them as consultants and borrowing money from their taxpayer-subsidized schools.

Meanwhile, students - and taxpayers - pay the price.

Take Rachael Barrow.

Barrow was 49 and desperate. She had lost her job in quality control at a Long Island electronics firm after 17 years. She was too young to retire, but too old to jump right into another job.

Looking for a new career, she stumbled upon the Franklin Career Institute in a local pennysaver and signed up for the medical assistant program.

"I came in there to learn, and it was just a nightmare," she recalled.

Instead of an easy path to a new job, she encountered heavy staff turnover, chaotic classes full of out-of-control students and, in at least one case, an instructor more interested in socializing with students than teaching.

After completing the program with financial aid from taxpayers, she says she got no help from Franklin to find a job, a search that took more than two years.

"One of the reasons I was turned down for a couple of jobs I applied for was because they saw 'Franklin'," she recalled.

For most New Yorkers, the recession has been a bust. For a growing number of mom-and-pop trade schools that promise students awesome jobs, it has been a windfall.

After the economy collapsed, the flow of taxpayer money to schools like Franklin morphed from a trickle to a waterfall. As the money flowed, some school owners made sure to help themselves.

The default rate on government-backed student loans at these schools is on the rise, with a growing number of students hoping for dream jobs as medical technicians, beauticians or computer operators winding up instead with crushing debt and dead end certificates.

The claims game

Though the problem is national in scope, The News uncovered a catalog of problems in New York City that should alarm taxpayers and serve as a warning to would-be graduates:

Schools make outrageous claims about the salaries students will earn and professions they'll be able to enter once they graduate.
Many schools hire unqualified teachers. For instance, the credentials on record for a pharmacology teacher at the New York Career Institute were for secretarial sciences, business ed and counseling. (The school corrected the problem.) The state has cited several schools for teachers' "unprofessional behavior," such as socializing with students.

This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read our FAQ page at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php
Five Filters featured site: So, Why is Wikileaks a Good Thing Again?.

This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Job search needs the personal touch - Kansas City Star

Posted: 15 Jan 2011 10:02 PM PST

By DIANE STAFFORD

The Kansas City Star

Unemployment remains high. Millions of mid-career workers continue in a long-term job search. Yet employer surveys reveal "trouble" filling job openings.

What gives?

There's a disconnect between what employers seek and who the job hunters are.

Employers, particularly in large companies, typically want perfect candidates to fill niche jobs. They want experienced (but not expensive) talent who are techno-savvy, flexible, energetic and ready to do specialized work.

Given the applicant screening systems in many large organizations, it's hard for mature applicants to make a case that their skills are adaptable and, most important, current.

Older workers have to convince hirers that they're willing, if not eager, to work for less money and that they're fine with downscaling their titles or responsibilities.

Because that's not easy, these two job-hunting tips need to be sent again and again:

•People you know — not formal application processes — provide your best chance for re-employment.

•Small and midsize employers are likely to be more receptive to hiring you.

Any job posting you find is going to be found by hundreds, if not thousands, of other applicants. Your application needs an advocate to pluck it from the pile.

You need to go to association meetings, use LinkedIn and send e-mails to former co-workers and other people you know to let them know the nature of your job search.

Through personal contacts, you're more likely to learn about opportunities in small and midsize companies. They may not have the Web presence or name recognition of big firms. They don't staff tables at job fairs. But they have hiring needs.

And because there aren't as many job definitions in small organizations, they're more likely to want workers who have broader experience and a mature work ethic.

Bottom line: Personal contact is likely to be more productive than sending out resumes or filling in application blanks.

@ Read "How I Got The Job" at economy.kansascity.com.

To reach Diane Stafford, call 816-234-4359 or send e-mail to stafford@kcstar.com. Read her recent columns at economy.kansascity.com.