No Worker Left Behind

Just need to vent! Got laid off in December as a prepress/digital print technician. Wasn't too worried since I have over 25 yrs experience. But, it seems like all printing companies around here are cutting back. So I signed up for Michigan's No Worker Left Behind program. They give up to 10K over 2 years for education for emerging/high demand fields. Sounds great. After signing up, I had to wait 4 weeks for "orientation", which was a 2 hr session that told us what to bring to or intake appointment in 4 weeks! At intake, they verify that I am who I am, tell me to research the employment stats for my profession, print out positions I have applied for and set me up with an appointment with a case manager in...4 weeks! Met with the case manager, he told me the next steps I needed to go through, workshops on job search, interviews and applications. Had to take 2 really basic tests, "If the dinner bill is $15 how much do you leave for a 15% tip?". Then I met again with the case manager and was finally given an education plan to fill out. They finally submitted my plan to the board this past Monday. Just waiting to hear back.
They could have saved everyone a ton of time by just spelling out what the requirements were from the start. I could do the research, have all my documents in order the first time I go in.
There I almost feel better now. Plus the fact that the I "discovered" a case of brew that I forgot about!

No one has ever accused the gov't of being efficient.

Exactly. I know they're giving a lot, and I appreciate it. But with the trouble our state budget is in, you would think they could find a way to make things run a little more streamlined.

I feel the exact same way over here in California

mstev50 said:

Exactly. I know they're giving a lot, and I appreciate it. But with the trouble our state budget is in, you would think they could find a way to make things run a little more streamlined.

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I think that they (you know, "they") plan on people not following through when they set up ridiculous hoops for people to jump through. If it was easy, everyone would do it. They make it ridiculous to weed out the chumps. At the end, what they have are the people who really need and deserve the help. Unfortunately, they also have the people who are really dedicated to fleecing the gov't.

mstev50 said:

Exactly. I know they're giving a lot, and I appreciate it. But with the trouble our state budget is in, you would think they could find a way to make things run a little more streamlined.

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I know just what you're going through; the company I was at for nearly 30 years closed in Dec. '03, and because they went to Mexico I was up for the $12K in tuition/books for re-training. Talk about having 25 people doing the work of 5... It just makes you wonder if the state/federal employees don't see the same thing you and I see while we're going through the process. I think they see it too, but they see it as job security/milking the cow.

"Hi, we're from the government, and we're here to help you."

But I can't complain too much; it did have its intended outcome, I did manage to get an associates degree in Culinary Arts at a local technical college. And even though I realized 6 months into the program it wasn't something I wanted to do as a career, it was still a worthwhile time.

DeathBrewer said:

No one has ever accused the gov't of being efficient.

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But they will be able to run our health care!













into the ground.

JohnnyO said:

I think that they (you know, "they") plan on people not following through when they set up ridiculous hoops for people to jump through. If it was easy, everyone would do it. They make it ridiculous to weed out the chumps. At the end, what they have are the people who really need and deserve the help. Unfortunately, they also have the people who are really dedicated to fleecing the gov't.

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Exactly. You gotta look at your competition. Considering your location, I'm guessing there are a lot of inner city types who are just going through the motions so they can keep on mooching from the gov. And others who sincerely have no clue how to function in society.

I was at a previous job and we were looking to hire another electrician. The MOST promising candidate that we interviewed was asked to take an informal test to check his electrical capabilities. He answered about 5 out of 25 questions and gave up saying it was too hard and he didn't understand. This guy had just finished two years at a technical school for electrical/electronic training because his former employer (Life Savers) had moved to Canada. To keep this in perspective, I have NEVER had any formal electrical training nor have I ever worked as an electrician and I got 23 out of 25 of the MULTIPLE CHOICE questions.

This just puts a lot of things into perspective.

Yeah, I looked at those tests and thought, "this is ridiculous". When I met with the case manager to go over my results, he was saying that he never saw anyone score as high as I did. I think my lowest area was in the 96th percentile. It just seemed too easy, but I guess that does weed people out and gives them some idea which direction to look towards for education.

Sorry to hear about the situation. That just stinks. I know the Michigan economy is in bad shape, but I still hate hearing all of the stories of out-of-work people who have worked hard for so many years.

If you ever get to take a road trip back to the UP, I have a room at the cottage, a couple of kayaks, and a cold beer ready for you.

Thanks Yoop. One of these days I'll take you up on that offer!