Hands-on vocation training imported from Germany

South Carolina BMW plant imports German apprenticeship program - PBS Newshour
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zpDAocHVxwM

Take a look at the Career Day at 2:50... of those options, which would you choose?

I love stories like these about people who quit pursuing a career track that they don't really like and find a hands-on job they really do like. The German vocational training system was actually designed in the 1700s, yet still is effective today. It is part of what has been called the "German Skills Machine," which helps make Germany the #1 economy in Europe and the #3 exporter in the world despite having less than half the population of Brazil and less than 7% of the population of India. Bosch, Stihl, Siemens, BMW, Mercedes, Bayer, Faber Castell, and BASF (the largest chemical producer in the world) are some of Germany's biggest export companies.

And some more similar stories

Dual Benefits - Stihl exports a German training system to Virginia Beach | Made in Germany - DW.com
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iuX9ATIrlrs

Dual Vocational Training - Germany's successful system | Made in Germany - DW.com
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzNM2BqKsxs

From college dropout to craftsman - DW.com
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OfPIcEIJvVw

"With all the young people around [in Munster], you'd think it would be easy to fill apprenticeships. But most high school grads enroll at university instead... however 1/4 later quit."

"Young people spend years studying things they don't like... but over the years they get a much better idea of their interests and strengths, and develop the courage to explore areas better suited to their personality and interests."


Stihl plant in Virginia Beach

The array of construction jobs that nobody hears about in school

Build your future
http://byf.org/

There are so many hands-on jobs in construction that most people--including me--never heard about in school. The "Craft Professions" section on this website has a great overview.

Yet these days, in the world of desks and cubicles, in school nobody tells you any professional uses for using your hands and for moving, doing, and touching i.e. kinesthetic and tactile jobs and we could add "coordination" jobs. These talents are channeled into arts and sports and crafts which, in school, are often considered frills or entertainment.

One of the goals of this site Build Your Future is to help dispel that illusion. All of the jobs on it require the same type of talents and sports, arts, and crafts along with many other types of intelligence. The options are much broader than many people realize.

As noted in a previous post, studies often mislead people into believing that hands-on jobs pay less than jobs requiring college degrees because the studies lump low-skill hands-on jobs like flipping burgers in with high-skill jobs like maintaining wind turbines or installing solar panels.