How To's For Researching Training Schools - Part 1

Sunday, December 5, 2004 | 0

Maybe you have just found out you are eligible for vocational rehabilitation, you qualify for a voucher (post 1/1/04 dates of injury in California), or you are considering making a career change and attending school. What do you do?

How do you go about finding an appropriate training school, what do you look for and what questions would you want to ask if and when you decide to go on a tour? This article will provide you with those answers!

FINDING VOCATIONAL SCHOOLS:

First, how do you go about finding vocational schools? Many vocational schools are advertised in the yellow pages, on daytime television, in local news publications and on the Internet. You can call the school and request a catalogue of their classes. You can call the ones that interest you and ask questions on the phone, before you set a tour.

What are the hours of training? Attendance policy? Refund policy in case the training does not work out? How long is the training program and how often does the training start? If you were ready to start, you would not want to consider a school that did not have a start date for too far off into the future.

Find out the location of the school and get some good directions if you plan to visit and arrange a tour later on. Knowing where you live and the drive to and from school, is it reasonable for you to get there on time when it starts every day? What is the traffic like?

If you do not drive, you would want to find out: Is the school accessible to public transportation? Is carpooling available?

What are the hours of training? Attendance policy? What is the school's refund policy in case the training does not work out? How long is the training program and how often does the training start?

If you are in California and are eligible for the voucher, or SJDB, what are some of the items the school considers as necessary for you to meet with success in the training program and are they included?

What kind of licensing or accreditation does the school have? This differs from state to state and is important to know, to make sure the program can be approved.

If the school interests you, ask if they can send you a catalogue. This will give you the chance to go over the courses and you can then decide if you want to visit the school. Also, you can collect materials from all of the schools you call and then compare programs. Later, if you decide to go on a tour, you can then ask more questions after reading through the materials.

If you have had a work related or other type of injury or disability, it is very important to ask questions about what is involved physically in the coursework and then out in the job market.

Many of the vocational schools are used to working with people who have had some type of injury or disability. Can this school accommodate you and any special needs?

If all of the above interests you, you can let the school know that after you review the brochure and materials they send you, you will call them back for a tour.

The next installment in this series will cover arranging your tour, what to look for, advantages of vocational schools, other types of schools, questions to ask...

Jamie Charter, Return to Work Consultant who has been providing services to disabled workers and their employers for 21 years, wrote this article. Jamie has written a series of articles specifically geared toward injured workers available on workcompcentral and posts frequently on the Injured Worker Forum. Jamie is also the Newsletter Editor and on the Board of Directors of the California Association of Rehabilitation and Reemployment Professionals Carrp...Keeping California Working since 1975... www.carp.org.

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The views and opinions expressed by the author are not necessarily those of workcompcentral.com, its editors or management.