Did you just graduate high school or want to change careers? Did you know you can complete a technical school program in as little as one year? If you don’t have four or more years to get a degree that may or may not help you get a job, consider a technical school program. In this article, we will look at a technical school and what you learn during a technical school program at CyberTex.

 

What is a Technical School?

 

A technical school, or a vocational or trade school, focuses on knowledge and skills that translate directly into a technical job. At CyberTex, we offer technical school programs that are designed to help you learn valuable trades such as HVAC, medical assisting, vocational nursing, or network engineer. We believe that these skills can help you build a successful career and achieve your goals.

 

What Do You Learn in a Technical School Program?

 

A technical school program offers many trade theory and career skills that prepare graduates for entry-level HVAC, medical assisting, vocational nursing, and network engineering roles. This is what you learn during a technical school program:

 

A Career-Focused Curriculum

 

Traditional 2- and 4-year colleges start their curriculum with general elective courses in English, computer literacy, math, and classes like 13th-century literature. Technical schools bypass those general elective courses and go straight into the career-focused curriculum. This is how most technical school programs can be completed in as little as a year.

 

Traditional colleges include two years of general education before they get to the career-focused curriculum. And even then, the second half of a traditional college’s curriculum may or may not translate directly to a specific job. Technical schools focus on what you need to succeed in a technical role and nothing else. You attend classes focused on trade theory and supplement that with hands-on experiential training.

 

Trade Theory

 

Technical school programs start with in-class lectures that focus on trade theory. For HVAC students, they will learn the fundamentals of heating, ventilation, and air conditioning. Practical nursing students will review medical terminology and understand how to break down terms into their parts. Network engineers prepare for 14 IT certifications, proving their computer and network management skills. Medical assistants study anatomy and physiology to understand better the human body’s mechanics and how the body systems work together. These in-class lectures are supplemented by hands-on experiential training.

 

Hands-On Experiential Training

 

In addition to classroom lectures, during a technical school program, you get hands-on training in real-life scenarios. For medical assistant students, they learn how to take vital signs and perform phlebotomy. HVAC students install heat pumps or create ductwork for ventilation. Nursing students will do clinical rounds with licensed nurses and physicians to understand the process of administering healthcare to multiple patients. At the same time, network engineers will create server infrastructure and connect Linux networks to IT infrastructure. This hands-on training helps build job-related skills that will help you succeed in your new career.

 

Job-Related Skills

 

While attending a technical school program, you gain essential skills that prepare you for a healthcare, trade, or information technology role. These job-related skills include:

 

Problem Solving – during a technical school program, you learn how to identify a problem, figure out its cause, prioritize it among many other issues, and select and implement a solution. For example, an HVAC student will start working on an HVAC system that is not working correctly. They will run through their checklist of common problems. After identifying the problem, they will figure out the proper solution. Then, under the strict supervision of the instructor, the student will fix the real-life problem, getting feedback all along the way.

 

Attention to Detail – technical school programs will help you build your attention to detail skills. You will learn to focus on a task, identify the process to complete it, and finish it without errors. For example, a Network Engineer student will need attention to detail when troubleshooting a network. Many issues can arise, and the Network Engineer student must pay attention to every detail, however small, to build and secure a network with 99.9% uptime.

 

Time Management – during your technical school program, you will have classwork deadlines that must be managed and prioritized. Time management is crucial to medical assistants because they are tasked with scheduling patients. They want to take advantage of every minute of the physician’s time without causing patients to wait too long in the waiting room. Appointment scheduling is one of the many tasks that a medical assistant will perform in a physician’s office, and good time management means that resources are fully allocated while keeping patients’ wait times at a minimum.

 

Communication – students improve their communication skills during a technical school program. Good communication starts with active listening, which can be gleaned from in-class lectures. Like carefully listening to instructors, vocational nurses must listen closely to patients before making treatment decisions. Missing an assignment will cost you a good grade; however, missing a symptom the patient is telling you about can be catastrophic. Vocational nurses learn how to communicate verbally and in writing effectively so they can document and inform physicians about patient symptoms, observations, and vital signs. The correct information will allow the physician to treat the patient and improve their health outcome.

 

Critical Thinking – a vocational nurse uses critical thinking to triage patients entering a hospital. Which patients are emergencies and which can be seen by regular hospital staff. This takes critical thinking, something you learn during a technical school program.

 

Initiative – as a student in a technical school program, you learn how to take initiative and perform your schoolwork independently. You learn how to prepare for lectures and labs proactively. This is something that a network engineer must utilize in their day-to-day role. Although network engineers work in the IT department, they work independently on computers and network infrastructure. A network engineer must proactively secure a network, teach employees about proper safety protocols, and fix security issues before they become problematic. This initiative is first learned during a technical school program, where you will troubleshoot and fix network issues you may find on the job while being mentored by instructors in a lab setting. This allows you to work through real-life scenarios and build your confidence to prepare you for your new career as a network engineer.

 

Final Thoughts

 

Now that you know what you learn during a technical school program, it is time to learn more about CyberTex. With flexible schedules and small-sized classes, we offer placement assistance, accept most veteran education benefits, and offer financial aid to those who qualify. Let CyberTex match you with the technical school program that fits your passion, and start working in your dream job. Believe in Yourself. We Do.

 

Want to Learn More?

 

CyberTex offers short-term technical training programs in the Information Technology, Medical, Healthcare, and Construction Trades. We are a student-centric institute that equips students with workplace skills for initial employment, paving the way for desired and financially stable careers. 

 

Contact us today to learn more about our CyberTex campuses in Austin and Killeen.