Skilled Workers Need A Chance

I would like to inject my personal opinion on the article "BC Skills Shortage". For many years I have been searching for a decent job, but without the skills I always seemed to get the second rate minimum wage jobs. And heard over and over "Sorry, but we need someone with skills, we don't train people."

Having heard this from many employers I went back to school and earned skills in a field that I thought was going to be invaluable. Now I am skilled and still having a hard time finding work. Due to this situation I am now working in a job that is not utilizing all the skills that I learned in school.

I won't mention any company names, but I'm sure that other readers can relate to what I am about to say. This is the scenario: I walk into an office asking to see the manager, I have my resume in my left hand, shake the managers hand with my right and introduce who I am. After all the introductions are done I sit down with the manager and interview for the job. He then asks me if I have any skills in that field. I regretfully say that I do not, then he will usually say "Sorry, but we need someone with skills, we don't train people."

People such as myself get very discouraged when presented with this situation even though we are skilled. How is anyone supposed to get the skills to work in the fields if the employers won't give us a chance to learn those skills they require? So the invariable outcome is always the same, look for work in another field usually ending up at a minimum wage job where we are unhappy but forced to work because employers won't give the chance to acquire the skills needed for their fields.

Now that skilled labor is in demand employers are having problems keeping up with the market. I would just love to go back to a few of the places I applied to and tell them that the outcome of all this is due to unwilling people who don't give a damn and just want to make a buck the fastest way they can. To those people I like to say "You made your bed, now lay in it!"

Mike Dion