The AEEC recommends establishing the Professional Career Onboarding (PCO) program, a high-quality professional onboarding experience aligned with industry standards. Skills, qualifications, and credentials earned through the PCO are universally recognized by industries across the state. This recognition is ensured by the PCO Memorandum of Cooperation, jointly signed by industry representatives and AEEC.

The PCO provides students with workplace-relevant knowledge and practical experience, enabling them to progressively enhance their skills. It incorporates both a paid-work component and an educational component, resulting in industry-recognized credentials. Developed and delivered collaboratively by industry groups, corporations, and educational institutions, the PCO is coordinated by AEEC to ensure its long-term success and sustainability.

Unlike traditional programs, the PCO does not require formal registration. Its industry-led and market-driven approach offers employers and stakeholders flexibility, enabling the expansion of paid professional experiences into sectors where registered programs may be less common. This approach also addresses diverse workforce needs across various industries and occupations.

AEEC strongly supports and promotes this market-driven, industry-led model. The AEEC PCO offers an innovative career pathway by empowering industry organizations to identify and create high-quality, paid professional experiences tailored precisely to their industry’s specific workforce needs.

Note

The objective of creation the PCO opportunity is not to discourage entities interested in proceeding with Registered Apprenticeship Programs (RAPs) but rather to support the creation of industry-led and industry-recognized Professional Career Onboarding that can be developed and implemented more rapidly and with significantly less complexity than RAPs to address current and future workforce shortages. PCOs and RAPS will function on parallel tracks, with AEEC providing support and promotion for PCO.

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