A high school diploma is an essential step toward meaningful participation in the modern economy. Increasingly, though, a diploma alone isn’t enough.
Working with educational, economic and workforce development leaders across the country, Graduation Alliance has taken an active leadership role in the national movement to help more Americans improve their job prospects.
While many Graduation Alliance students go on to college and trade schools, others want — or need — to get to work right away. It’s for this reason that Graduation Alliance offers Industry Credentials pathways to help students get right to work upon — and often even before – graduation.
These training sequences focus on giving students the basic skills and knowledge they need to compete for jobs in in-demand industries with credentials in areas such as caregiving, manufacturing, logistics, construction and workplace hazard prevention.
These opportunities are made available to Graduation Alliance students through partnering school districts, workforce development boards, non-profits and community colleges across the nation, putting students on the path to enter the workforce a step ahead, with increased opportunities for hiring, pay and promotion.
We continually work toward expanding our Industry-Recognized Credentials portfolio to ensure a solid career starting point for our students. In doing so, we’re helping ensure that not only do more Americans have the educational background they need to enter the workforce, but the skills and experience they need to get hired, maintain a job, and become promotable.
Here are some examples of Industry Credentials we have available to offer to your students, the community, or your employees:
Caregiver
The Bureau of Labor Statistics anticipates 1.2 million new jobs will become available for home health and personal care aids by 2026.
Graduation Alliance offers its students the opportunity to earn a Caregiver Credential — a buildable credential that puts them in a job field that is a well-established pathway to careers across the field of healthcare — and the in-demand Institute for Professional Care Education certification.
Partnerships with some of the nation’s largest caregiving companies offer students who graduate with a caregiver credential in some regions of the country preferential hiring consideration.
Certificate holders across the nation are earning great jobs with reputable companies in a field that is all about making people’s lives better.
“As people get older they need someone to care for them. I want to help people, and Graduation Alliance has helped me achieve that goal. If you really want to accomplish something, this is a great path.”
Amelia | Credential Earner Michigan
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Manufacturing
The United States has been enjoying a manufacturing renaissance for several years.
Hundreds of billions of dollars worth of investments in manufacturing plants are coming online in recent years, and more than $2 trillion worth of products are being produced each year.
The one thing slowing down the boom, though: A shortage of trained and ready workers.
That’s why Graduation Alliance offers its students the opportunity to earn a Manufacturing Credential, giving them a head start on jobs in industries that make everything from aircraft to plastics to textiles.
In addition to certifying job-seekers have the basic training and skills it takes to enter the manufacturing field, in some communities Graduation Alliance has partnered with regional manufacturers to earn preferential hiring and additional free training opportunities, including the Manufacturing Skills Standards Council’s Certified Production Technician certificate, also known as the MSSC CPT.
Certificate earners have gone on to earn living wage jobs with excellent advancement opportunities in a fast-growing sector of the economy.
“These certifications are the essential first steps in a journey toward career stability with good wages and benefits.”
Angelia Erbaugh | President Dayton Region Manufacturers Association
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Logistics
More than 80 percent of Americans now shop online. Trucks and trains move billions of tons of goods across the United States each year.
With new transportation and delivery technologies, like self-driving vehicles and drones, coming soon the timing couldn’t be better for skilled logistics workers.
That’s why Graduation Alliance offers its students the opportunity to earn a Logistics Credential, giving them a chance to entry-level jobs in one of the most promising career sectors in the world.
From warehouse management to supply chain facilitation, the job prospects and advancement opportunities for individuals with certified skills in logistics are virtually endless, especially for those who have earned the Manufacturing Skills Standards Council’s Certified Production Technician certificate, also known as the MSSC CPT.
Earners of this credential have gotten jobs in assembly operation that pay a median of more than $30,000 a year.
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OSHA 10
The OSHA 10 online training course teaches the recognition, avoidance and prevention of workplace health and safety hazards.
And OSHA 10 certificate is required for thousands of jobs, and candidates who proactively earn it not only save employers time and money but demonstrate they are enterprising individuals who are “job ready.”
The course includes training on:
- Promoting a safety culture
- Understanding workforce risks
- Knowing worker rights related to safety
- Staying healthy on the job
Graduation Alliance offers its students the opportunity to earn an OSHA 10 certificate, giving them an essential credential that will put them in the front of the line for many jobs.
“The OSHA 10 courses helped me to learn more about the areas of safety that I need to know to protect myself and others in my work as a certified nursing assistant.”
Nicole | Student Michigan
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