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How Oklahoma Job Seekers Can Skip the Online Black Hole · The 405 Payroll

• 0:13
  If you are scrolling through online job boards right now, sending out resume after
• 0:19
  resume into the void, there is something you need to know.
• 0:22
  More than sixty percent of local open roles in Oklahoma paying twenty dollars or
• 0:27
  more per hour never actually hit those public job sites.
• 0:32
  Man, that, that explains so much.
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  Back when I was doing morning radio, I used to take calls at five in the morning
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  from people who submitted, like, fifty resumes online and got absolute radio
• 0:45
  silence.
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  It was driving people crazy.
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  It really is a hidden pay ceiling.
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  When the state recently expanded the Oklahoma Talent Accelerator Grant to cover
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  sectors like healthcare and logistics, the data showed that relying on automated
• 1:01
  application systems traps people right below that twenty dollar mark.
• 1:06
  But there is a direct way around that algorithm.
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  Wait, how do you just skip the algorithm?
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  You can't just, uh, walk into a building and ask for the boss anymore,
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  right?
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  Actually, in Oklahoma City, you almost can.
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  The Oklahoma Employment Security Commission hosts direct in person hiring events at
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  the Oklahoma Works office on Lincoln Boulevard.
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  Five thousand five North Lincoln Boulevard, to be exact.
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  Okay, so who is actually standing in the room when you walk in?
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  You have regional recruiters sitting at tables ready for immediate on site
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  interviews.
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  We are talking about employers like Standby Personnel, Oklahoma Human Services,
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  Employbridge, Utility Asset Management, and Goodwill Central Oklahoma.
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  Standby Personnel, Employbridge, Utility Asset Management...
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  so these are real, physical operations roles.
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  Exactly.
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  Entry warehouse and utility assembly positions that start anywhere from seventeen
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  dollars and fifty cents to twenty dollars and twenty five cents per hour,
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  often coming with immediate health benefits on day one.
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  See, that, that is the thing.
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  A three week online application drag where your resume sits in a digital stack
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  versus walking out of a building on Lincoln Boulevard with a job offer the same
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  afternoon.
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  That is a massive shortcut.
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  It cuts straight through the corporate friction.
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  Usually you get hit with endless background check delays or ghost job listings that
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  aren't even real.
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  These rapid hire workforce events are designed to get people onto a paid shift in
• 2:48
  under forty eight hours.
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  Under forty eight hours.
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  That changes your whole week.
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  Okay, so getting to twenty bucks an hour on a direct hire is great for immediate
• 3:00
  cash, but what if somebody wants to break past that ceiling?
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  Like, how do you go from seventeen or eighteen up to twenty five dollars or more
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  without taking on a mountain of student debt?
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  That is where the skill leap comes in.
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  Up at Metro Tech's Springlake Campus, nineteen hundred Springlake Drive,
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  they partner directly with the Central Oklahoma Workforce Innovation Board,
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  or COWIB.
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  COWIB, right.
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  Through federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act grants,
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  WIOA funding can cover one hundred percent of tuition for short term technical
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  certifications.
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  Wait, one hundred percent?
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  No out of pocket cost at all?
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  Zero tuition cost if you qualify for the grant.
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  We are talking twelve week programs in high demand areas like logistics management
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  or medical administrative specialist.
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  You complete those twelve weeks, and your hourly earning potential jumps right into
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  that twenty five dollar plus range.
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  Twelve weeks is nothing.
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  I mean, that, that is just three months.
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  But, er, how does someone survive those three months if they still have rent and
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  bills due every single month?
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  That is the main reason people hesitate, but there is a clear stability playbook
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  here.
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  First, these micro credential schedules at Metro Tech are built specifically for
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  working adults, often running in flexible ten hour weekly blocks in the evening.
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  Ah, okay, so you don't have to quit your day job just to sit in a classroom all
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  afternoon.
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  Not at all.
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  And if you need immediate income bridging while studying, local event venue setups
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  offer weekend shift work paying nineteen to twenty two dollars an hour.
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  Plus, community organizations like the Urban League of Greater Oklahoma City on
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  Northwest Tenth Street offer free financial coaching and direct utility assistance
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  to keep your budget balanced.
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  So the Urban League helps hold down the fort on utilities and budgeting,
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  you do quick weekend gigs or evening shifts, and in twelve weeks you emerge with a
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  certificate that permanently shifts your pay scale.
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  Precisely.
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  It turns what feels like a risky career jump into a manageable,
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  structured transition.
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  Man, that is clean.
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  So if somebody is listening right now and wants to stop sending resumes into the
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  internet void, what is the immediate move?
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  Do not wait until next week.
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  Head down to the Oklahoma Works center at five thousand five North Lincoln
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  Boulevard, or go online to Metro Tech's portal before five PM today to schedule your
• 5:43
  WIOA grant intake interview.
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  The resources are sitting right there waiting for you.
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  Alright, go get those intake interviews scheduled.
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  Good chatting with you, talk soon.