Career Connections Fair at Rend Lake College
Creation Date: 03/31/2023
Rend Lake College hosted a Career Connections Fair for eighth grade students to learn about various industry career paths on Friday, March 24th, 2023. Tonya Odum and Brody Wilson, from the Rend Lake College Apprenticeship Team, hosted a table and presented to a crowd of 600+ students from schools across the college district. This was an excellent opportunity to spread the word about the Apprenticeship Programs offered at Rend Lake College. The event format had students rotating between presenter tables every 12-minutes to receive the maximum amount of information their time allowed.
Within the day's time constraint, the Apprenticeship Team identified essential points that they considered vitally important to know. The first point is that with an Apprenticeship Program, students receive free college education through employer tuition programs and available grants; the second is students earn a wage while attending classes. It was also relayed to the students that if they participate in a Registered Apprenticeship Program, there are mandated wage increases as they gain skill sets and/or competencies.
Apprenticeships are mutually beneficial relationships for employees and their employers. Employers receive a uniquely trained individual who gets the general theory at their institution while learning a trade, and even business, specific lessons from their mentor while on-the-job. By getting the message out early to students, Rend Lake College hopes to capture them in Pre-Apprenticeship or Registered Apprenticeship Programs when they are ready to enter college and the workforce.