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Laying groundwork for a career change

December 27, 2008 12:35 am

BY CATHY JETT

Orange County carpenter Darrell Hale laughed the first time his fiancee suggested he study nursing at Germanna Community College.

After all, he'd worked for his father's construction business, N.E. Hale Inc., for 17 years before becoming a contractor himself.

"My idea when I got out of high school was to be a carpenter," Darrell Hale said. "That's what my family does."

But Christinia Hargrove's suggestion started to make sense as he watched the demand for builders dwindle after the housing bubble burst. A career in nursing, especially with two new hospitals opening in the Fredericksburg area, began to seem like a safe move.

"I was tired of feasting one month and starving to death the next," said Hale.

He signed up for the eight-week nurse aide class at Germanna's Locust Grove campus this past fall and will take the state exam to become a certified nurse aide in January. His fiancee already is studying to be a licensed practical nurse, and he'll start the prerequisite classes for LPN students next month.

"I foresee a lot of opportunity in this area," said Hale, who plans to put himself through school working as both a nurse's aide and a carpenter. "I hope to be an RN by the time my son graduates from high school four years from now."

More people like Hale are turning to Virginia's community colleges in hopes of switching from hard-hit fields such as housing to ones in areas likely to be in high demand both now and long after the economy rebounds.

Often, they turn first to Germanna, which has helped it become the second-fastest-growing community college in the state in terms of head-count percentage. It's seen a 10.4 percent increase from fall 2007 to fall 2008. That puts it behind only Thomas Nelson Community College, which has experienced a 12.7 percent increase.

"What we're seeing is folks who, three years ago, were making $80,000 are having a tough time making a living," said Mark Haines, counseling services coordinator at Germanna's Fredericksburg-area campus.

"The hot field right now is the health-care field. The word on the street is we've got two new hospitals coming and there's a nursing shortage," he added. "Folks know that if they put in three years at Germanna, they'll have a degree that is marketable and they'll have a job. That's important to people."

Marie Hawley, a career counselor at the Fredericksburg-area campus, said many of the people she sees are at the midpoint of a career in the mortgage or housing industry. About a third are considering a new career in nursing. Most are women, but a number are men.

"They're saying: 'The housing market is just not the same. I'm 40 years old and I don't have 15 years for it to turn back,'" she said.

Some sign up for phlebotomy courses because they can earn a certificate in 16 weeks and be reasonably certain of finding work. Others prefer to put in the three to four years it will take to earn an LPN or RN degree because they're planning on working for another 15 to 20 years, Hawley said.

"I lay out the numbers for them. You're going to have to take biology, chemistry, and you may need psychology and sociology and maybe a preparatory writing class," she said. "If they've been out of high school for 25 or 30 years, it can be pretty daunting."

A heavy workload doesn't worry Kathy Julian, who has helped her husband run Julian Homes in Hartwood since 1993. She said she'll have more incentive to do well than most 20-year-olds who go to college because she'll be footing the bill.

Julian said she started thinking about a second career once the building business dried up. Julian Homes, which had built 40 houses a year for three years running, has had to cut staff and stick to building decks, sheds and other small structures.

"We wanted to build a spec house, but the appraisal didn't even come in for what it would cost to build it," she said. "All the comps the appraisers used were bank-owned houses; all four were repos. The banks were willing to take a loss on them, but we weren't."

Julian credits a friend, who finished her nursing degree at Germanna when she was 53, with inspiring her to choose that field.

"I'm 47 and nursing is pretty recession-proof, especially being the tail-end of the baby boomers," she said. "Once I become an RN I can go into home health care, which will be a big field as we age. There's also the cosmetic side of it, like aestheticians. It opens a lot of avenues."

Bill Jackling of Stafford County already had earned 47 credit hours over the years, but realized that wasn't going to help him find a job after being laid off as manager of Quality Carpet One in Burke.

"People aren't buying carpet," he said. "Retail has pretty much slowed down for that type of goods."

He made too much this year to qualify for a Pell Grant, which provides need-based funding to low-income undergraduates, but is filing an income reduction appeal since he now unemployed.

Jackling plans to earn his associate degree at Germanna, then get a bachelor's so he can become a high school teacher and coach soccer.

"There are certain jobs that are more recession-proof than others," he said. "Teaching is one. I had always want to do that, but had been lured into retail because I could make more money than a high school teacher. When things go bad, a degree is something no one can take away from you."

Cathy Jett: 540/374-5407
Email: cjett@freelancestar.com