Teddie Storey, formerly the Director of the Delaware County Career Centers is concerned about how prepared young people are for entry to the workforce.

"The schools prepare students for college. They [address the] basic educational needs - reading, writing, arithmetic - but they do not prepare them with the 'soft' skills that are needed to find a job: Good customer service, being polite, grooming, flexibility, and being willing to accept something that they feel may be below them with the hopes of looking for something better in the future."

"A lot of kids come out of school assuming there's going to be a 20-dollar an hour job available to them, and there isn't. But it may be available to them in the future."

"I think a lot of us in Delaware County have started at the bottom of the ladder and worked our way up."

Honing your 'soft' skills, exhibiting patience and having a realistic career plan are all keys to landing a good job. But education should never be discounted.

Storey adds, "We see a lot of people who do not have a high school diploma, and we encourage them to either return to school or go for GED training. Without the high school diploma or the GED, the chance of finding a job is pretty much impossible."

For information and assistance, visit the Delaware County Career Centers, located in Delhi and Sidney.

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