I don’t know how many readers of this blog are in the 17 to 18 year old age bracket (probably very few, if any, because it is not connected to a social network), but I imagine there are many people who have relatives and friends, or children of friends who are just out or finishing up High School and see a very limited job market which they feel ill prepared to tackle.  For some it may be off to college, for others they may have an idea of what they want to do ultimately, but don’t know how to get from here to there. 

The US Army is finalizing this month an agreement with Riverside County to become a Partnership for Youth Success (PAYS) participating employer.  The concept behind this (admittedly) recruiting incentive program is to match job needs of the County with job skills offered by the Army, in order to allow a young enlistee to choose a job with the County and receive specific preparation for civilian employment while serving their country.

What the County gets from this program is professionally trained and experienced future employees.  There are a number of County jobs (for one example) that require a year of working experience beyond training.  It is a situation that makes it difficult for a person to go from high school to trade school, and then find employment.  On the other hand I would guess for some graduating seniors the stumbling block is just a matter of developing professional work habits and confidence that comes with work experience before they feel comfortable and competitive pursuing a career track job. 

Sure, we have jobs that only require the candidate to be 18 years old, such as Correctional Deputy.  But, not every 18 year old is ready to jump right into a job with that level of responsibility, even with the training we give them.  So this offers young men and women another way into meaningful employment.  
 

So, if you are acquainted (even once removed) from someone who may not know about this option and who could benefit from it, you might pass this information along.  Oh, and if it happens to be your son or daughter they can sign up for a future County job and live in one of the Desert resort communities.  That way you will have a pretext for visiting the desert when it is actually for a golf or tennis vacation.