Job Corps is a free, residential education and training program that each year helps almost 70, 000 students between the ages of 16 and 24 gain the experience they need to get a better job and take control of their lives. The program offers you an opportunity to learn a trade, the chance to obtain your high school diploma or GED, and help finding a job when you graduate. There are 120 Job Corps campuses nationwide, including two centers in West Virginia. As a WV resident, students can also attend Job Corps programs in Pennsylvania, Virginia, Kentucky, and Washington, D.C.

SCHOLARSHIP ELIGIBILITY

To be eligible for the Job Corps Scholarship, your must:

Be age 16 through 24
Be from an area that has conditions that keep you from getting an education or a job.
Be able to benefit and complete the training, which you will get at a Job Corps Center.
Be drug and alcohol free upon arrival at a Job Corps Center, and remain drug and alcohol free while enrolled in Job Corps.
Abstain from any acts of violence.

For other information about eligibility standards, contact your JOB CORPS ADMISSIONS COUNSELOR.

Not everyone is eligible for or wants to join Job Corps. You should discuss with the Job Corps Admissions Counselor other programs that may be located in your area.

The Job Corps Admissions Counselor will check to make sure that you are eligible for Job Corps. This means that your health, school, and other records will be reviewed. DO NOT PANIC! Job Corps checks these records to make sure the Program will provide YOU with the best possible training and help that YOU WILL need.

PROGRAM BENEFITS

The center that you will be sent to has classrooms, dormitories, cafeterias, recreational facilities and offices. If there is a center near where you live, you may wish to enter as a nonresidential student, meaning you will not be living on the center. Ask the Job Corps Admissions Counselor for more information about this program.

You may be given clothing to wear or money to buy clothing. It is not necessary for you to spend a lot of money on clothes before coming to a Job Corps Center. You will usually eat all of your meals in the center cafeteria with your friends at NO charge to you.

In fact, your room, food, medical care and transportation to the center are part of your scholarship. Your transportation to the center and, after graduation, back to your home will be provided by Job Corps. Additionally, once a year after six months of attendance, you will be provided with a round-trip ticket for home leave. Any home visits other than the above and emergency travel will be at your own expense. You will have to pay for personal things like sodas, candy, lipstick and fancy clothes if your want to buy them out of your living allowance.

BONUSES

As mentioned previously, Job Corps is a federally funded program and costs the students nothing. Even your transportation to the Job Corps Center you have chosen is provided for you. AND, Job Corps also pays you while you are at the center. When you join the program you will get paid a monthly allowance; the longer you stay with the program, the greater your allowance will be. You will be paid every two weeks and the amount depends on the number of days enrolled.

First 56 days of enrollment......$25 Biweekly
57-112 days of enrollment.......$30 Biweekly
113-182 days of enrollment.....$40 Biweekly
Over 182 days of enrollment....$50 Biweekly

In addition, bonus amounts ranging from $25-$80 may be earned every 60 days based on your performance.

Incentives are paid to Job Corps students who earn the following while enrolled:

High School Diploma or GED.........$250
Completion of a Vocational Trade...$750
Both of Above.............................$1200

A readjustment allowance is paid to students who stay at least 180 days and who complete a trade. The amount depends on your performance while enrolled. These funds can be used to purchase a car or place a deposit on an apartment when you finish your training.

[Return To Top]

ZERO TOLERANCE POLICY

Every student has the right to participate in the Job Corps program without being subjected to violence or drug abuse. To promote a positive learning and living environment for all students, Job Corps has instituted the ZERO TOLERANCE POLICY. This ensures the safety and security of all Job Corps centers. All acts of violence or threats of violence, harassment or intimidations, and/or involvement with the use, possession or sale of drugs will be immediately confronted and subject to:

"ONE STRIKE AND YOU'RE OUT!"

All students will be placed on a 30-day probationary period. Before entering the Program, students must sign a contract committing to abide by the policy and stating they are entering the Program DRUG FREE.

RULES, REGULATIONS, AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Along with Zero Tolerance, Job Corps has rules and regulations. They are there to help you get the education and training you will need to get and keep a job. The rules are not hard to follow. You will have to learn the daily routine for getting and keeping a job. You will get up at a certain time, eat your meals at a certain time, be in your GED or vocational training classes during the day, etc. When you get to your Center, you will be given your Student Handbook, which will explain the rules and regulations in more detail. If you have any questions about the rules or regulations, talk to your center counselor.

Things will take getting used to when you arrive at a Job Corps Center. That's expected, but after a while it won't bother you. The rules and regulations are in place to provide you with a safe learning environment and to help you develop a strong work ethic.

Job Corps will train you to get and keep a good job, but YOU will have to want the training and have the desire and will to complete and use it.

TRAINING AND EDUCATION

Job Corps offers a variety of training programs for both women and men at over 100 centers. The training that is offered includes automotive trades, computers, carpentry, bricklaying, plumbing, welding, nursing, clerical, secretarial, foodservices and many more. In fact, Job Corps offers training in over 160 different jobs. Not all centers offer all 160 jobs, and some training classes may be filled when you first apply for the Job Corps program. You may wish to take another training class at the center until an opening occurs in the area in which you were first interested. Discuss with the Job Corps Admissions Counselor the various areas of training that Job Corps offers.

While enrolled in Job Corps, you can earn your high school diploma or your high equivalency (GED). Job Corps school is different from your high school. In Job Corps you learn at your own pace. Job Corps wants you to learn, so you will not be competing against other students for grades. Job Corps cares and will spend as much time as necessary to make sure you understand what you are taught. If you already have your high school diploma, or when you earn your educational degree, you may want to go to advanced-training classes at Job Corps center or colleges.

Remember, to get a good paying job, you must have a diploma and be trained in a skill. Let Job Corps show you how!

CENTER LIFE

The first few days you are at the Job Corps center, you will go through an orientation program. During this time, you may experience homesickness, but stay focused! This is the first step to success.

You will be shown around the center to determine what educational classes you should be in and to get you settled into the center. Next, you will participate in the Occupational Exploration Program (OEP) to look at all the different types of training available at the center so that you can choose the one you want.

A typical day at a Job Corps center begins at 6 am when you get up, bathe and clean your room. Breakfast at the cafeteria is usually from 7 am to 8 am. Your first class - either educational or vocational training - begins about 8 am. Your classes are one hour long and last until about noon.

At some Job Corps centers, GED classes are held in the mornings and the vocational classes are in the afternoons. At other Job Corps centers, you may go to GED classes one week and vocational the following week.

You will have time for lunch, and then it's back to your afternoon classes. Your afternoon classes will last until about 4 pm. You will generally have free time from 4 pm until 5 pm when dinner is served. Dinner usually lasts about an hour. From 6 pm until lights out at 11 pm, you may wish to participate in the various activities offered at the center. Some of the things you might do are watch television, read, play various games, go to a movie, participate in a sport (such as basketball, volleyball, football, etc.), participate in center government activities or just write letters home to your parents or friends. On the weekends, you may even be eligible to participate in the recreational and cultural activities found off center in town.

JOB CORPS AND YOU

You can get the most out of your Job Corps stay by doing the best that you can to learn your trade or get your GED. Job Corps is available to help YOU. But, you have to want the training and help. You are going to have to abide by new rules and regulations, some of which you may not understand. You will learn how to get along with others. Everything that you will be doing and learning at the Job Corps center has only one purpose - to provide you with the training, education and help that you will need to get and keep that job that YOU want.

As a young adult, you will be faced with many challenges and decisions. How well you make these decisions may determine whether you succeed or fail in life.

You know where you have been; you know where you are now. Let Job Corps show you a future. The decision is yours.

For more information about joining Job Corps, contact the Admissions Counselor in you area by calling

800.733.JOBS or 304.285.3120

JOB CORPS-WHERE SUCCESS LASTS A LIFETIME

Job Corps is a federal government program for youth, administered by the U.S. Department of Labor/Employment and Training Administration.

Memori Dobbs, Admissions Counselor
Jackson Pierce Public Affairs, Inc.
Job Corps Outreach and Admissions
Morgantown WorkForce One Stop Career Center
304 Scott Avenue
Morgantown, West Virginia 26508
Phone: 304.285.3120

Job Corps is a U.S. Department of Labor Equal Opportunity Employer Program. Auxiliary aids and services are available upon request to individuals with disabilities. TDD/TTY telephone number (800) 733-JOBS.

[Home] [Return To Top]

}