Learn On The Job: OK CareerTech Offering Unique Apprenticeships As Alternate Career Paths

Oklahoma CareerTech is working to fuel Oklahoma's workforce through registered apprenticeships.

Registered apprenticeships help build a pipeline of employees for local businesses by easing the transition from school to work for students. It also helps students kickstart careers they may not have considered otherwise.

For example, not many kids grow up dreaming of being an ophthalmic technician. “It's kind of one of those hidden jobs in health care,” Canadian Valley Technology Center instructor Jeremy Cooper said.

An ophthalmic tech is the person you see before the ophthalmologist who does all the screenings and tests.

Cooper teaches Canadian Valley Technology Center apprentices in the vision care program the ins and outs of the job. “They've really impressed me. Most of them are only a year or two out of high school,” he said.

His apprentices come to class in the morning and then practice what they learned in local ophthalmology clinics in the afternoon while getting paid to do it.

Carlee Walls graduated high school in May not knowing what career she wanted to step into. “I had no clue what I wanted to do. I was so scared. I had stress every day. And then I came here,” Walls said.

Now Carlee works at Oklahoma Eye Surgeons through her apprenticeship. “I get to learn, I get to get paid. I thought that was the best combo that I could find,” she said.

At the end of their apprenticeship, all the students will take a test to become certified ophthalmic assistants.

And vision care is just one of the industries offering registered apprenticeships in Oklahoma. “It's a great way to get into a career without that four-year college commitment and all the student loan debt that seems to go with it,” Cooper said.

Businesses that want to hire apprentices are encouraged to reach out to a local technology center.

Oklahoma CareerTech recently received half a million dollars from the federal government to help expand its apprenticeship program in the state.

To see our story about the grant, click here.