Workforce Training for Young Adults

Get Work Experience

Experience will help you get hired.

Lots of jobs require experience to get hired. A lot of people think "How can I get experience when I can't get a job?"

There are in fact ways to get experience when you've never had a job. The options below all help you develop your job skills, work know-how, contacts and confidence. And having any of them on your resume can help you get hired.

School and Community Activities

Participating in clubs, sports, theater, music, dance, religious organizations and other community activities can be fun and develop your skills. Include these on your resume. Find activities through school districts, community education, local arts groups, religious organizations and the public library.

Volunteer Work/Community Service

Volunteering is unpaid work. You can gain skills like writing, providing child care, teaching, coaching, fundraising, mentoring, making sales, answering phones, organizing materials, doing construction, creating art and more. Call, email or stop in at a nonprofit or school you’d like to volunteer for, and ask about opportunities. Many provide training.

Job Shadows

Explore what a day is like in a career you are interested in by working with a DLR employment specialist to establish a job shadow with a local business. During the job shadow you can learn more about the business, ask questions and expand your network.

Internships

Internships are a great way to get experience in your relevant course of study, potentially receive credits, gain employer recommendations, learn directly from businesses and possibly be offered full-time employment with the company. For assistance in applying for an internship, contact your local job service office.

Dakota Seeds

Businesses can receive assistance from Dakota Seeds to defray the host of creating an internship and assistantship through a partnership between the Governor’s Office of Economic Development and Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR). The high-need areas included are science, technology (computer science), engineering, mathematics, accounting and manufacturing.

Take the Next Step

To learn more about the Workforce Training program, contact your local job service office to schedule a meeting with an employment specialist.

Marcia Hultman

Cabinet Secretary