Meeting job requirements
Meeting future job requirements
is the number one reason Oregoni
ans take the O E D tests. State School
Supt. Verne A. Duncan said today.
Duncan said a survey o f more than
2,000 Oregon O E D candidates con
ducted in the spring o f 1981 showed
(hut 39 per cent took the high school
equivalency tests to meet future job
requirements.
At the time the candidates took
the G E D , 35 per cent were unem
ployed and 86 per cent felt that the
tests were im p o rtan t in finding or
keeping a jo b . Seventy-three per
cent said they hud no job counseling
prior to the exam.
Twenty-six per cent said they took
the tests to meet educational admis
sion requirements, and 23 per cent
said they took them fo r personal
s atislac tio n . T h ir ty -fiv e per cent
said they planned to enroll in a com
munity college, while 8 per cent said
they planned to enroll in a four-year
college or university.
About 9,000 Oregonians— 86 per
cent o f them 30 years o f age or
younger— receive a G E D each year.
Meanwhile, about 30,000 public and
Black unemployment nears
25 per cent
Three pieces o f economic and em
ploym ent were released recently
which reveal the dismal past, p re
sent and future plight o f black A m
ericans.
A Government Accounting Office
study reported that only 24 per cent
of the former 300,000 C E T A public
service em ploym ent workers have
found full-tim e employment. G A O
also found that some 130,000 black
public service employment workers
lost their jobs as a result o f C E T A
cuts last year.
The g o ve rn m en t’s own u n d er
stated unem ploym ent statistics in
M arch showed unemployment for
all blacks at an all-tim e high o f 18
per cent. The officially reported fi
gure o f 46 per cent unemployment
for black teenagers is more nearly a
staggering 55 to 60 per cent.
In a d d itio n , over h a lf a m illio n
blacks are am ong the 1.3 m illio n
discouraged workers who have
given up hope o f finding em p lo y
ment. This means that overall black
unem ploym ent is close to 25 per
cent. M e a n w h ile , the Com m erce
Departm ent index o f leading eco
nomic indicators showed a further
drop in February, marking the tenth
consecutive month o f economic de
cline.
As layoffs increase in the public
and private sectors, both white-col
lar and blue-collar minority workers
are learning once again the grim re
ality o f ’’last hired, first fired.”
It is painfully clear that a targeted
coordinated national employment
policy is desperately needed. It is
needed to deal w ith the current
crisis, as well as to prepare the na
tion for the economic, educational
and training initiatives required for
the changing domestic and interna
tional marketplace o f the '80s and
’90s.
Instead, the downward slide con
tinues— with blacks at the bottom o f
the pile.
A career as a Psychologist
In many school systems school
psychologists perform assessments
and plan education programs. They
are graduate trained professional
who assess children and youth to as
sist in planning edu catio n al p ro
grams. The school psychologists
help to improve the quality o f edu
cational services for children. They
spend a great deal o f their time giv
ing psychological tests, ( I.Q . tests
mainly), individual counseling, per
sonality and emotional assessment,
group counseling, consultation, be
havioral m odification, curriculum
development, in-service training and
mental health prevention.
School psychologists may work
for public and p rivate school sys
tems, human resource agencies and
have private practice.
School psychologists work closely
w ith an in te rd is c ip lin a ry team o f
school w orkers, such as teachers,
counselors, social workers, adminis
trators and parents. School psychol
ogists assist classroom teachers in
identifiying specific ways o f teach
ing children who have special needs.
This is accomplished through the
use o f various testing instruments to
measure interests, ability and a tti
tudes. They perform many tasks in
educational planning for the child;
prevention o f psychological educa
tional problems.
C o nd u cting in-service train in g
In order to effectively relate to their
clients school psychologists must
have the proper educational training
and interpersonal skills. The educa
tional preparation o f school psycho
logists includes educational curricu
lum development, educational phil
osophy, psychological research,
psychological testing, understand
ing theories in learning, motivation,
p erception, social b eh a vio r, and
group interactions. Effective school
psychologists must be able to estab
lish rapport with the testec. Strong
interpersonal skills arc important in
communicating and understanding
youths.
U n d e r g r a d u a t e c o u rs e w o rk
should include general psychology,
developmental psychology, experi
mental psychology, physiology, bio
logical sciences, math and statistics.
The m inim um entry-level require
ment for certifying school psycholo
gists is a Masters Degree.
Information on graduate study in
school psychology can be attained
by writing the American Psycholo
gical Association (A P A ), 1200 17th
Street N .W ., W ash in g to n , D .C .,
20036.
Newfields listed in publications
private school students arc receiving
their high school diploma.
Here are some other results o f the
survey:
•T h e proportion o f those taking
the tests was split equally between
males and females.
•R eading and mathematics were
the tw o subjects seen as most im
portant by the G E D candidates for
use in later life.
•S e v e n ty -fiv e per cent learned
about the G E D p rogram from
friends, neighbors, relatives or guid
ance counselors.
•Eighty-one per cent took a prep
aration class and/or practice test be
fore takin g the G E D exam , and
m ore than 90 per cent who took
preparaton classes thought the clas
ses were h e lp fu l. M ost o f those
classes are o ffered by com m unity
colleges.
•T h irty -n in e per cent said their
grades in school were Cs or better.
•Fo rty-tw o per cent said they be
lieved the G E D certificate is equiva
lent to a high school d ip lo m a in
meeting all their needs.
•T w e n ty -n in e per cent reported
that their highest grade completed
was the ninth grade or less.
I t ’s very d iffic u lt to predict the
future labor m arket conditions in
every industry and occupation with
p erfectio n . New inventions and
technologies create some jobs while
elim in a tin g others. T h e ebb and
flow o f demand for a service or pro
duct will affect the number o f work
ers needed to satisfy the demand.
Changes in the size or age distri
bution o f the population, their work
attitudes, training programs and re
tirement programs especially in the
black com munity— these and other
forces affect the ratio o f shortages
or surpluses o f candidates to open
ings in the job market.
The occupations listed in this
guide are a rough sampling o f those
fields that are expected to have a fa
vorable outlook over the next years
for an increase in available open
ings. But remember, this is “ only a
sampling.”
There are m any, many new bur
geoning fields lik e Mass T ra n s it,
Energy Resources and C onserva
tio n , Parapsychology, N u tritio n ,
e tc ., about which not much is
known and statistics are short.
For a complete list o f jobs in va
rious industries and categories,
write for the Occupational Outlook
Handbook, Superintendent o f Doc
uments, U.S. Government Printing
O ffic e , W ashington, D C . 20402.
Also, here are a few other publica
tions which may help in the area of
career opportunities:
College Placement A nnual: C o l
lege Placement Council, Inc.; a non
p ro fit o rg an izatio n o f placement
professionals that publishes a varie
ty o f materials helpful to students.
F ed e ral C areer D ire cto ry: U .S .
C ivil Service Commission. A guide
for college students to careers in the
federal government.
Manufacturing opportunities
The persons who look for jobs in
the fields o f m anufacturing as ap
prentices, helpers, technicians,
mechanics, and operating engineers,
basically fa ll in to two distinct
groups. T he first group includes
those who have completed a sizeable
percentage o f their technical educa
tion and who have had enough on-
the-job experience to qualify as ju
n io r mechanics, technicians, or
o p erating engineers. The second
group includes those who aspire to a
career in a manufacturing industry.
but who have just started their tech
nical education and had lim ited
work experience.
The employment opportunities of
these two groups are quite different,
and this should be clearly u n d er
stood. Those w ho have c o m p le t
ed a m ean in g ful am ount o f tech
nical training and have had a few
years o f experience will find many
jobs open to them. Many jobs in the
manufacturing area do not require
extensive tra in in g or w ork exp er
ience. The question of pay rates for
students or inexperienced workers is
important. It would be wise for the
prospective worker to adjust his or
her expectations to the realities of
the situation. Good attitudes are im
p o rta n t to a beginning employee;
the ability to get along with fellow
em ployees, to take an interest in
business, to show initiative and to
assume a measure o f responsibility
are qualities that are highly prized
by ail employers and supervisors.
Opportunities
In The
Medical Field
Accidents on jobs
Job-related accidents or illnesse*
affected more than 37,000 workers
in Oregon during the last year.
To help in the diagnosis o f these
health problems, University Hospi
tal at the O regon H ealth Sciences
University has established the Occu
pational Health Clinic which was in
itiated after requests from several
unions for an “ o b jec tive , th ird -
party diagnostic center.”
“ In add itio n to providing d ia g
nostic services to patients, the clinic
staff will promote the education of
other university health professionals
and students in the field o f occupa
tional medicine and nursing,” said
Dr. W illiam M orton, director of the
clinic is well as professor and head
o f environm ental medicine at the
O H S U School o f Medicine.
Questionnaires have been devel
oped to obtain the detailed informa
tion about work history and occupa
tional health symptoms which arc
necessary for accurate diagnosis.
This type of intensive search is more
likely to produce the cause of the oc
cupational health problem.
“ The clinic will deal with persons
who may have been affected by ex
cessive exposure to heat, radiation,
noise, dust and other types o f
fumes; repealed exposure to low
doses o f irrita tin g substances and
certain types o f chemicals; tra u
matic injuries to nerves from vibra
tions; and other a ilm e n ts ,’ ’ cx-
plained P a tric ia d e G a rm o , nurse
practitioner who also serves the neu
rology and internal medicine clinics.
Patients arc seen by D r. M orton,
M s. d eG arm o and D r. Douglas
L in z, assistant professor o f m edi
cine in the division o f general medi
cine. After completing a physical ex
am ination and lab orato ry studies,
plus reviewing the occupational and
health histories o f the patient and
researching potential exposures in
the work place, the clinic staff will
refer the patient back to the p er
son’s own physician or to other
health care professionals, depending
on the diagnosis. Th ey may also
muke recom m endations to the
worker or his employer for im prov
ing the health c on d itio n s o f the
work setting.
W o rkers who are ill and con
cerned that it may be related to then
w ork situ atio n can be seen at the
nev clinic with a doctor's referral or
by phoning 225-7967 between 8 a m.
and 4:30 p.m. daily for an appoint
m ent. C lin ic hours are 1-4 p .m .
every Tuesday at University Hospi
tal's Am bulatory Care Center (out
patient clinic).
The Occupational Health Clinic is
a jo in t e ffo rt between U n ive rs ity
H o sp ital and the School o f M e d i
c in e ’s D ep artm en ts o f M ed ic in e,
and Public Health and Preventive
Medicine.
Business Manager
Secretary
File Clerk
Computer Input Operator
Registered Nurse (RN)
Nurse Practitioner
Pharmacist
X-Ray Technician
Lab Technician
Physical Therapist
General Practice MDs
Specialized Medicine MDs
Typist • LPN
PHIL REYNOLDS MEDICAL CLINIC
15 N. Morris St.
Portland, Oregon 97227
287-4532
Walter C. Reynolds M.D. I an;. Prac.
Kalpana H. Rajdev M.D. Fam. Prac.
Herbert L. Baker M.D. E.N.T.
(Plastic Surgery)
I