Certificate Programs Offer Marketable Skills Quickly

North Carolina’s unemployment rate stands at 9.7 percent, and thousands of the people out of work are looking for a way to catch the eye of an employer.

Many people in the Charlotte area are heading back to school, and they're using a quicker and less expensive way to gain the knowledge they need to get hired.

After a recent divorce and 20 years of raising a family, Mary Jackson said she needed a job fast.

“I had a little bit that my daughter and I could survive on, but I had to do it very quickly,” Jackson said.

She has a degree from a business school and worked as an administrative assistant for a major oil company, but said she opted to go back to school because she realized she needed an updated skill set.

Jackson decided to go for the certificate program at Central Piedmont Community College. The 225 certificates the school offers can enhance what you already know or give you the skills for a specific type of job, all in just a few months.

One of the most popular certificate programs at the college is the machining/technology certificate. CPCC said that’s because big manufacturing companies are expanding in Charlotte.

Another popular one is the CNA certificate program. Officials said the baby boomer generation is retiring, leaving open positions. On top of that, CNAs are not as expensive to hire as licensed nurses.

HVAC, welding and auto repair certificates are also in demand, CPCC said. That’s because many people are repairing what they own, instead of buying new.

One certificate can run from $600 to a little more than $1,000.

A two-year degree at the school might cost $4,000.

“You're not going to come out making $70,000 to $80,000 after a six-month certificate,” said Jay Potter with CPCC said. “You're going to come out in entry level, maybe $30,000, (or) even $50,000."

Potter said you can't compare the overall value of a certificate to a degree, but said a certificate will make job seekers more marketable.

“An employer is not going to go out and hire four people to work on a robot,” he said. “They're going to want to look for people that have those multiple skill sets.”

And that's exactly what Jackson did. In nine months, she gained three certificates in office administration.

“(I want employers to see) that I'm versatile, that I'd be able to jump in and do anything,” she said.

For more information about curriculum certificate programs at CPCC, click here.

For more information about corporate and continuing education certificate programs at CPCC, click here.