Job Training Program
The job training program at Second Chance, Inc. emphasizes skill development and personal enhancement. Three skills sets that are key to developing and maintaining a strong workforce receive specialized attention – life skills, safety skills and technical (OJT) skills.
Consistent with its values, Second Chance provides lifestyle, values, and skills training to individuals who are looking for a “second chance” in life.
Thanks to our strategic partnerships with excellent training organizations, forty hours of life skill instruction are incorporated into our workforce development. These seminars are designed to promote appropriate attitudes, grounding values, and effective behavior in any job situation or market, as well as throughout a trainee’s personal life. Soft Skill training areas include:
- effective communication
- interviewing
- self-motivation
- work ethic
- leadership
- financial literacy
- stress management
- conflict resolution
- time management
"As I ride down the streets now, I find myself looking at doors, the way the windows are built, the frames; stuff I used to never even notice. It’s like I have a new direction in a new life. I feel like I’m part of something bigger.”
—Durrell Majette, Second Chance Supervisor and Training Program Graduate
Because our trainees, customers, donors and employees deserve nothing less, safety is at the center of all Second Chance operations. To perpetuate this culture of safety, the unparalleled services of OSHA (Occupational Safety & Health Association) are enlisted. Representatives provide trainees the industry-coveted OSHA 10 Certification, along with Lead & Asbestos Recognition and Safe Removal training. Beyond this, trainees participate in an EMS (Emergency Medical Services) Course in AED, CPR and first aid.
Beyond the general safety and health instruction provided in standardized classes, Second Chance provides specialized training based on case studies formed during past work. This series of lessons is taught by those who learned them—primarily by our senior employees, supervisors, and field managers. In this way, valuable knowledge gained through years of hands-on experience is retained in the collective conscious of our organization.
After Boot Camp—a rigorous 2-week evaluation and qualifying period— trainees proceed with hands-on instruction in the proper use of numerous types of power tools, hand tools and equipment. This phase of the program runs for 16 weeks, during which time students receive first-hand experience:
- recognizing material types, values, and sizes;
- deconstructing structures and salvaging objects built from a variety of materials;
- becoming competent in the safe and effective use of all manual and power tools;
- achieving a thorough understanding of maximizing the value and performance of tools as a means of increasing the tools’ efficiency and longevity; and
- understanding OSHA-based safety and health training for all field employees.
The program is punctuated with a series of strategic 4-hour modules. These seminars include:
- Sustainability Orientation – Trainees gain a clear understanding of the meaning of sustainability, as well as how to apply sustainability practices to their own lives.
- LEED Orientation – The LEED Rating system measures the environmental soundness of a building by evaluating the design and construction practices that brought it into existence. Each trainee is introduced to the entire system with an emphasis on the value of recycling demolition waste, material reuse, regional materials, and recycling building material.
- Second Chance Values – The trainee is formally introduced to the values, mission and culture of Second Chance as a genuine triple-bottom-line social enterprise.
A series of objective and subjective evaluations determine whether trainees meet the goals of each module. The majority do so brilliantly. Then, the successful candidate celebrates with Second Chance and graduates with a Baltimore City Mayor’s “Certificate of Completion.” By graduation, a trainee may have earned several additional Certificates of Completion, including:
- Asbestos Awareness,
- Mold Awareness,
- Fall Protection and Scaffolding,
- Lead Abatement, and
- OSHA 10 for Construction.
Upon completion of the program, qualified employees receive additional specialized training in areas such as hazardous materials handling and forklift operation. Certificates of completion are available for these modules as well, which help tangibly demonstrate motivation and accomplishment to a potential future employer.
All in all, the Second Chance job training program is rigorous yet reasonable, ever mindful of our dignified responsibilities to our participants, patrons and planet. To learn how to be considered for the program, please visit our Employment Opportunities page.