High demand specialty jobs that might help pay for the schooling?

February 9, 2012 10:39 AM

Where would I find high demand specialty jobs that might help pay for the schooling? I'm looking into a career change and looking for jobs that might be in high enough demand where some entity would paid to get the training/schooling and take that job. I'm not so much looking for low skilled high wage jobs as I am niche jobs that requires education, as I would also like to get a degree. An example is like the way the military requires a 4 year enlistment but you get training and alike out of them. (although I'm to old to try this now) This could also include government sponsored job training programs for specific industries. Maybe like an X-ray tech? I just don't know where to hunt for such things.
posted by wonderfullyrich to Work & Money (10 answers total)

When my mom was promoted to management in the state psychiatric hospital she worked, they paid (as in, full tuition plus stipend) for her to get a MSW in Rehabilitation Therapy. This was about ten years ago, however. Before that, the only degree she had was the Soviet equivalent of a BFA in Fine Art. Unfortunately, regardless of the demand of jobs like that, hiring freezes are making things difficult.
posted by griphus at 10:46 AM on February 9, 2012

Some of the trades and crafts will do this - think electrician, cement mason - although I doubt it would lead to a degree. Check your local union/hiring hall.
posted by dpx.mfx at 10:50 AM on February 9, 2012

Some nursing schools that are part of hospitals will pay for the schooling in return for a commitment to work at the hospital for a certain length of time after graduation.

The University of Texas at Austin has a software developer training program that pays students a salary to learn to maintain the university's legacy mainframe database systems, and there is a commitment to work for the university for a period of time after receiving the training. Google "UT Austin Software Developer Training."
posted by jayder at 10:52 AM on February 9, 2012 [1 favorite]

A lot of hospitals will pay for people to get nursing degrees. It helps to be some kind of clinical employee already, and you always have a multi-year commitment afterwards, but it's out there.

This is changing though. A lot of hospitals and health care providers in general are starting to hunker down, as there's widespread anticipation that Medicare/Medicaid benefits are going to be cut significantly in the next few years. As this is pretty much the only way we're going to balance the federal budget, it's not an idle fear. Private insurers are also in trouble, as the new health care law has created some uncertainty there. So there's far less hiring going on now than there was five years ago.

Outside health care, most of the training programs of which I'm aware are either generalized educational benefits provided by employers, i.e. if you're already an employee they'll pay for a bachelor's, or they're specialized educational benefits targeted at advanced degrees, e.g. you've got a B.Eng., but they'll pay for an M.Eng. That one is actually fairly common.

But if you're looking for jobs that take people more-or-less off the street and train them up, dpx.mfx has it: trade unions are actually hurting for workers in a lot of places. I'm talking plumbers, electricians, glaziers, painters, you name it. Most trade unions have apprenticeship programs, and many are hiring.
posted by valkyryn at 10:53 AM on February 9, 2012 [1 favorite]

Based on what I've read on the internet (so take it with a grain of salt), if you can pass the first two actuarial exams on your own, insurance companies will hire you and help you pass the next four exams. After 6 exams, you become a real, licensed actuary.
posted by tinymegalo at 11:13 AM on February 9, 2012

Ask the technical colleges or community colleges or public university near you what they offer.
posted by Heart_on_Sleeve at 11:34 AM on February 9, 2012 [1 favorite]

Doing a PhD gives you lots of specialized training, and (at least in the sciences) is almost always subsidized in part if not in full. While it is certainly frowned upon, a lot of people start a PhD, get a few years of training without spiraling into debt, and then leave for industry without finishing the degree.
posted by solipsophistocracy at 12:07 PM on February 9, 2012

If you are willing to teach special Ed in an urban area, there are programs that will let you get paid to teach while earning your teaching cert.
posted by drezdn at 1:14 PM on February 9, 2012

Depends where you are. Near me, I'd say mining.
posted by pompomtom at 2:31 PM on February 9, 2012

Charter Communications is paying for my husband's tuition, and he started in an entry-level position (networking). In two years, he's passed both his CCNA and CCNP and is now a network engineer, which he can take pretty much anywhere. (He did have prior experience, but pretty much anyone can do this.) They also may pay to send people to week-long boot camps that compress the CCNA (or Switch, Routing and Troubleshooting) studies down from several months.
posted by Madamina at 4:56 PM on February 9, 2012 [1 favorite]