Discovery Communications Launches ‘Discover Your Skills’ with Dirty Jobs’ Mike Rowe

May 11, 2011 | by aharris

Discovery Communications LogoDiscovery Channel’s Mike Rowe has become an advocate for skilled laborers and the American workforce, through Dirty Jobs, mikeroweWORKS and more. At the same time, Discovery Communications has been educating the world for almost 26 years and highlighting hardworking men and women that are the backbone of communities and our economy. Today, Discovery and Mike are announcing a new multimedia initiative, Discover Your Skills, that will provide unemployed and underemployed Americans with access to resources for obtaining marketable job skills while also raising the awareness of employment opportunities.

This afternoon, Mike Rowe will testify in front of the U.S. Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee (watch here at 2pm ET) in a hearing titled, “Manufacturing Our Way to a Stronger Economy,” drawing upon his seven years touring the country discovering Dirty Jobs and bearing witness to the role that these workers play in the success of our country. As part of Discover Your Skills, Mike, along with other Discovery personalities, will participate in on- and off-air programs and events to raise awareness of career opportunities and highlight the importance of training workers to fill these critical jobs.

Discovery Education will also spotlight information on career opportunities in skilled trades and how to obtain the training and experience necessary to pursue them, including tools that support the development of digital literacy, math and critical thinking skills required for individuals to obtain gainful employment.

For more on Discover Your Skills, read the announcement, visit our Impact website and check out Mike’s op-ed on Politico.com today.

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  • Bigmike

    That is awesome!

  • Arthur

    I tell you what, I can do all sorts of things but still not able to get a job. This country needs to think of it’s people too not just the other countries’. the economy is in shambles because people freaked out a few years ago and that my friends is the truth,all I want is a job but not in this country will a person give someone a chance. It did not use to be like that I wanna know what happened to MORALS. Yours truly, Arthur Reed

  • http://twitter.com/spacecadet0512 Paula Holcomb Reid

    Awesome stuff!

  • Pat Sarvella

    Good Luck Mike. Didn’t know why at first you were going to talk with the Senate but I will support you 100%, because I love the show and think everyone deserves a chance to prove their skills on what they can do. Thanks for the hard work. Pat Sarvella from Auburn,AL

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=526578459 Terry Andreadoria

    I am out of work 3 years this March, I have skills that make me valuable. But in this country you need a college degree for some jobs that never needed one. I had to support my family so college was not an option. I have pride in my work when I am employed, but cannot find work. I have applied to places like CVS and cannot pass a credit check cause my credit is bad why cause I am out of work. What does my credit have to do to get a job?? I understand in some fields I understand a credit check but how much harder can it be made to find a job.

  • eyechick

    I’ve hired people with skills. The trick is to get them to actually USE those skills to earn the wages we are paying. The “skilled” workers act like prima donnas. What ever happened to the American work ethic? Yes, you must actually EARN your wages. It’s very frustrating as a manager and even more infuriating when you are the worker taking up the slack of the primadonnas.

  • Anonymous

    Our local state agency offered little if any assistance with skills training and job placement needs. They do provide computers and printers on a fancy college campus, listing all jobs that require college degree’s. So all the veterans and teachers could stare weary eyed at the jobs that they probably will not get with their experience. Very sad. Where is the training for energy jobs, using photo-voltaic cells, wind mills, diesel or bio-fuel. Oh, plenty of energy jobs selling electricity to your friends and family, with promises of $50k a year.

  • http://www.facebook.com/klberkey Kelly McFall Berkey

    Sadly I’m one of those who hasn’t worked in so long that I am hesitant to look for a job. My skills are few but I’m loyal and dedicated. I loved working the last time I did and I was really good at it. I’m so scared that I would be over looked because I haven’t worked in so long (5 years) The last time I worked I worked for the DOC and have great office skills but no real proof. Something like this is exactly what people like me need. Thank you Mike!

  • http://www.facebook.com/klberkey Kelly McFall Berkey

    Sadly I’m one of those who hasn’t worked in so long that I am hesitant to look for a job. My skills are few but I’m loyal and dedicated. I loved working the last time I did and I was really good at it. I’m so scared that I would be over looked because I haven’t worked in so long (5 years) The last time I worked I worked for the DOC and have great office skills but no real proof. Something like this is exactly what people like me need. Thank you Mike!

    PS. I tried college, but I had to drop out. I just can’t afford 11,000 a year to get a degree that cannot promise me a job that would pay me enough to afford daycare or even the gas to get to work. I almost wanna cry about it. I can’t even pay that 11,000 dollars off and I don’t know what I’m going to do.

  • SWare

    At 25 years old, I am in peak physical condition and have well versed background in many things. Electrical, Plumbing, Carpentry, Computer/IT Specialist, Food Safety Teacher and Manager, Business Management, Small engines, Automobiles, Diesel mechanics…. and like many other people, I still can’t get a job. Knowing how to do the jobs is half of the battle. I hope to see things pick up soon, My wallet hurts. lol

  • King Thiyagu

    I want Job

  • J C

     I’m a former Marine. Now that I’m out of the service, I can’t find a job. I applied for a job that was exactly the same as what I was doing in the military. I have a friend that works across from the human resources department for the city (where I sent my resume to) so she got to see the applicants. I was the top qualified applicant, but I couldn’t get the job because my credit was bad. This is a country in need of some change. It’s a sad world out there.

  • Guest

    Glad to see this happening.  Before my employer when out of business I was a national director in the software industry with over 20 years of experience.  When going for interviews I found I was rejected because I never completed my college degree.  Please tell me what the degree would do for me that 20 years of experience had not already done?  Proven experience should outrank what my dad used to call “book learning” but our country only values sheep skins now.  Sometimes a college degree only proves your parents had enough money to pay for you to stay in school until you finally got enough credits to finish.  We need to get back to pay for skills.  

  • Guest

     somebody forgot the “.com” on mikeroweWORKS — fyi.

  • http://profiles.google.com/joetruck Joe Chasse

    Amazes me how many Americans don’t know or care to know even which end of a hammer to hold.  THANK YOU Mike and Discovery for doing this!

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Stephen-Varga/100000418133859 Stephen Varga

    Combustion mechanics do it with more heat!

  • Pat Sarvella

    That’s the reason I don’t want to become a manager. But I love my ”Dirty Job” and darn good at it as well.Pat from Auburn,AL 

  • Michele

    My husband as successfully run grow his father’s Lawn Irrigation Business now for over 35+ years.  As a college Graduate (both his father and my husband) they represent a dying Generation of American entrepreneurs.  Skilled in their fields doing “dirty jobs” leave for work 6am clean and return 6pm very dirty.  My husband owner of our company along with myself have begun to pass this legacy of hard work with our hands and our minds onto our two sons one a Jr. College honor student spending every day not at school working along side his father.  The other son a Jr. High school Honor Student working everyday afterschool and on Sundays along side his father.  I send this in honor of them and all the people on our country who still take pride in skilled work serving others and learning and increasing their skills along the way.  I say to my sons as they leave the door in all kinds of weather, “God is building character in you as you work along side your father and learn from his hands, his mind and his dedication to work”.  Thank you Mike Rowe for your commitment to make a voice for all our American Skilled workers doing those Dirty Jobs.
      

  • Crownsofclover

     Am I missing something? Where is this “Discover Your Skills” program? How do we access it? What resources does it include. All I can find are references TO the program, but not the program itself. Help?

  • http://corporate.discovery.com/blog Discovery Communications Blog

    Thanks for your interest. Last week we announced the initiative, but we’ll keep you posted as the various pieces of it launch! -Amber

  • Mcrawford

    This is fabulous! I own a commercial plumbing company in Houston Txas and we are all desparate for licensed and skilled workers. I would so like to see the program start in high school. I go to schools periodically to do career days and talk to the students about their futures. We so need to have vocational programs in  schools as so many students are left behind due to this push for college degrees now. Some kids aren’t cut out for it or can’t afford it and deserve other paths to a productive and financially stable future.  Please tell me how I can help. Would love to carry the message. I am the first woman in 5 generations of my family that does not have a college degree. But I am a skilled worker that has always been gainfully employed. 

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Karree-Williams/1163461386 Karree Williams

     Mike, first let me say I love your show “Dirty Jobs”.  We watch it as a family.  Now the important stuff.  I think this is a wonderful thing you are doing.  My son graduates high school this year and has really struggled with the academic side of school, but excelled in the hands on portion.  He is fortunate that they still have a metals shop and wood shop.  Even though they are mostly supported by the teachers themselves and not the school.  As such, my son has learned to weld and has helped with different projects within our community.  He will soon be ready to go out into that great big world and make a living.  However, there is no way he could attend a college that would require any time of academic work to complete your degree/certificate.  I have checked into a great technical school for diesel mechanics, which is what he really wants to do, but I have had no response from them to date.  He has a seasonal summer job lined up, but this ends in August.  What is he going to do?  He was going to go into the military to learn this skill, but because of an injury from a year ago, he is unable to go in.  Your initiative will help people like my son.  Kids who want to learn, willing to learn, has the ability to do those hands on type of work, get a great job not only helping those who need it, but helping themselves in the end.  Thank you.

  • Crownsofclover

     Thanks Amber. I’m considering a career change and the idea of moving into a “dirty job” is electrifying! I eagerly await information and resources. If not for this suggestion (Thank you, Mike Rowe and Discovery) , I wouldn’t have even thought of going in this direction.

  • Molly

    Thank you for talking to the Senate. I am a recent (last June), college graduate & I can not find a job anywhere. I find it disheartening that I was able to hold down multiple jobs while in school, (to pay for school), but now that I have a degree, I can’t find a job.
    Thank you for speaking on behalf of skilled labor. (I am now headed back to school to obtain a vocational certificate.)

  • Neil Steiner

    Amber – Has the organization every heard of SkillsUSA in Leesburg, Va.? It’s an organization that was formed to help students compete for vocational type skills and provides many different resources for landing jobs after training. They have an national leadership and skills conference in Kansas City this year June 19th to 24th. for more information go to: http://www.skillsusa.org/events/nlsc11.shtml
     

  • http://corporate.discovery.com/blog Discovery Communications Blog

    Thanks for passing this along, Neil. -Amber

  • Buck339

    What happens when you already have skill? Spent decades building on those skills. You get screwed if your over 45!  I have spent most of a decade trying to get a job and getting turned down. I have offered to work for free to prove that I Know what I know.Seems being willing to work isn’t enough. I have lost my tools,my savings, my health, and a roof over my head.  I am now in a nursing home recovering from burns received in an accident and cardiac problems. I still want to work , but who will hire a fifty something with major medical problems that has been out of work for over a decade?  NO ONE! So I will sit in this warehouse for the feeble and useless till I am kicked out to live on the street, or die.

  • Robert Jones

    I teach a two year High School Career and Technical  Program that has been placing students into registered carpenter apprenticeship programs before they graduate from High School. Students are indentured into the apprenticeship program during their senior year; most get advanced placement  into the second year of apprenticeship and complete the second year prior to them graduating from High School. This is done through a School-to-Apprenticeship Placement Program and partnerships with local construction companies and apprenticeship programs. This means when the student graduates they have been employed for up to a year, have two years of a four year apprenticeship complete, and have benefits start the day after they graduate, and are earning on the average $24,000 a year the day after they graduate from high school and will be earning approximately $40,000 a year by the age of 21 without any student loan debt. Oh and one of the companies that hire these student-apprentices is Corna-Kokosing Construction Company Look them up.  What is sad about this we only have 15 to 20 students out of a pool of 5,000 apply to our program. Maybe this initiative will help students and parents realize the truth about Skilled Trades professions. If you would like more information about our program contact me at rjones@efcts.us Robert Jones 

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Susan-Roberts-Wilson/1454829645 Susan Roberts Wilson

    I am a more mature worker, who has been terminated from my last few jobs due to the economy and downsizing.  I have been unable to find full time employment and now am having a difficult time finding full time employment.  I also do not have a degree, however in my life I have held a real estate license and have been a medical biller and worked at an insurance company and processed the medical claims for payment or refusal following company guidelines.  I possess common sense skills and am a people person and love to serve the people.  I have worked within State government for the legislature, now tell me I do not have skills to be a simple receptionist, I cannot get hired and know it is because I am over 50, even though most people say I don’t look it.  Something is wrong when a hard worker who has many years experience gets passed up because of the fact they are a little more mature.  All I want is a job.  I wish I could have been able to go to school, I never  had the  opportunity to spend all that money, I had other responsibilities, and now I cannot see going into debt for a degree that will take me 4 years and then in another 3 years I could collect social security.   So very frustrating to me.

  • Samuel McCall

    I was a high rise window washer for ten years. Then in 2009 I fell and broke my back. Since then I have put MYSELF through welding school by starting my own tree service. I am certified in stick, MIG, and tig and just want a chance to make a steady guaranteed paycheck. Even with all this training every job I have applied for has a prerequisite of at least two years on job making it impossible for me to find gainful employment. Please do whatever you can for your fellow hard working man. Just need a chance. Samuel McCall. samuel555mccall@yahoo.com

  • Bernadette

    You are 100% correct. I have earned every dime I made.It’s annoying to know I need a job desperately. But because I don’t have a BA I’m thrown to the curb. At49yrs old I’ve owned my own business and worked hard for others. Here I sit with no income because of exactly what you said. I need a job desperately.

  • Syldanb

    im so glad that someone is going to stand for skilled labor. i’ve been a stone mason for 26 years and i know first hand how those jobs are so rare these days. this country was built on hard and skilled labor and now all that is a thing of the past! too bad! tnx dan.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Ricky-OBrien/641242717 Ricky O’Brien

    I am a 29 year old Skilled Laborer. Been doing all kinds of construction jobs since I was 11, and until our countries financial down-full I have never had a problem with holding a steady job and chance of a positive career. ( Does this site have a link that could help us all in a better chance to employment?)

  • Jpthompsonconstruction

    I really do not see how trainning people for skilled labor jobs is going to change the economey.I am a licensed contractor and have quality skills in all aspects of construction but have been out of work for longer than i would like to say.These jobs are being eaten up by people entering this country for work .They will work for alot lower wage and there is thousands to choose from.I am willing to take a job for a quarter of what i made five years ago yet i sit here unemployed.This might build the trade schools income but after you complete the course you will be in a worse place than when you started.If it was true that are country needed skilled workers than why are so many construction workers out of a job?

  • Waydavschamp@yahoo.com

    American’s are pricing ourselve’s out of employment. Cheaper labor coming into our country. Buying items from outside this country. Lending money to countries to rebuild thier economy!!!???? What about our economy. We are in crisis !! Our population is growing and computers and robots are taking more jobs. What is the next ” industrial reveloution “.????

  • Eve Green

    I think this great!  I also have a college degree and years of experience, but now it seems as if my age is the key factor in not being able to get a job.  I have been unemployed for 3 years and am desperate to take anything that will at least provide money in which I can at least support myself a little bit.  Plus have the freedom to live on my own.  I never thought when I was younger that I would have to face this when I got into my middle age.  Thank-you America!

  • Jan

    Amber,
    Please contact me about partnership opportunities to support your efforts.  I tried contacting you off the contact section, but it would not send.
    Janice Tkaczyk

  • Aztec26

    I too had been working in a office profession for over 15 years but due to multilple work surgeries and not being able to advance in this career found myself depressed and with severe anxiety. I took a chance and quit my job and now it seems no one wants to hire me due to lack of skills. I can’t afford to go to college and be able to afford daycare. I know I have the ability to learn new skills and take any job that would be offered to me.

  • Aztec26

    I had applied for clerical job at a  Hospital. Since I didn’t hear anything back I went in person a week later to find out if they had already started the interviews and came to find out that someone already been hired and that the person reviewing the applications only went thru the first 10 applications recieved because that person was going to personal issues and there were over 100 appllications. Long story short, I never had a chance for this position. I kind of felt cheated out of the apportunity to get a job.  :(

  • Aztec26

    Why do employers ask for a credit check? What does that have to do with the job that has been applied for? Does anyone have the answer?

  • Lance

    As long as corperate america and government contiue to squeeze the working class for every last dollar we the average hard working americans are going to continue to suffer. Until the social consciousness of contry wakes up we will continue to suffer. I feel blessed to even have a job let alone one that I truely love. (skydiving instructor/parachute rigger). But now my industry is being threatend by more governmental greed with the restrictions that the are trying to place on general avation.

  • Equinehoofspecailists

    Mike, Im a farrier of 33 years and i watched the very first episode of dirty jobs. You were with a farrier. I am so proud for you to give testimony for us. We are trying to start a farrier school in Kansas and would very much like to participate in your initiative. equinehoofspecailists@gmail.com.

  • MikeFL

    It’s called Agenda 21.  United Nations Plan for our future.  Look it up and you will see why common sense and craft skill are not important and a college degree is.

  • Heather

    Sooooo…what ever happened with this>