Has anyone been through JobsCorp?

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A friend of mine is considering JobsCorp for his son who has never been evaluated for anything, but he has great difficulty holding down a job and he was incapable of completing college coursework even though he is very bright. He is very socially awkward and immature for age 21. He is a good kid who has never gotten into trouble, but he hasn't had a job or gone to school in almost 2 years.

I checked out the info on JobsCorp and they are supposed to help train a person for a job and help with independent living skills. However, I never met anyone who went through the program.

Dont!! !!

I could spend hours telling you why its a horrible idea. My wife could also tell you the similar stories....we both volunteered. I would rather be a bum on the street, where I would receive far more respect, than ever do that again. I am not under-exaggerating that statement either. Most people in Job Corp are there because a Judge ordered them there, or gave them a choice between juvenile hall/jail, or Job Corp. For those who arent in that situation, you do not get treated any better than if you are a prisoner. Try the military instead, if he like things to be ordered, and told every step he has to take...it will most likely be better for him, and looks far better on a resume'.

My husband went through it when he was 18 because he ran our of money in college. He isn't/wasn't a criminal, but there are a lot of young people there that are. He says that it would be best if the person going was a bit street wise, or they may be taken advantage of. But it was a good program for him. He learned a lot and had he not joined the Navy, he had a job offer as an electrician's assistant when he completed training.

The military may be an option, but he would need to be able to handle the chaos of boot camp, being yelled at, woken up loudly,-sometimes in the middle of the night- and they won't tolerate him not being able to finish his basic coursework. It's self paced, but needs to be completed quickly.

I totally agree that one definitively need to be prepared if they choose the military option. Having aspergers, and having gone thru both the Marine Corp and Job Corp, I personally enjoyed the Marine Corp better. For me, I understood why they were always shouting. That chaos and shouting is a "simulation" of the stress and chaos that all to often accompanies war. If you cannot make it thru that, you'll never be "battle-ready". Now, don't get me wrong on Job Corp, IF you can make it, it does have some merit. The problem to me is that I felt more like I belonged in the Marine Corp, than I did in Job Corp. The failure rate in Job Corp is higher than the failure rate in the military. This is something "arguable", simply because half of the "failures" were people who quit, something the marine corp wont allow you to do easily. But in Job Corp, all you have to do is say, "I quit", and your done. No one really tries to talk you out of it. Again, my experience is based one just the things I saw where I attended Job Corp at, it might be different. Also, it is possible that things have changed. I attended Job Corp in 1990. So I guess the best bet, would be to do your homework very well. If you can visit a center, not a recruitment center, one of the actual training facilities, so much the better.

I have. JobCorp teaches trade skills for free. Some of the instructors aren't that good, but if someone is serious about learning the trade they can graduate and start their career. The only thing I would advise against is having your son live on the campus. It's basically prison lite. Many of the residents are heavy into drugs. Some are gang-bangers. Some are gay have no problems trying to "get some" in the showers. Most of the races congregate together: white to whites, black to blacks, mexican to mexicans, asian to asians... and so forth.