Our mission is to assist you in acquiring the necessary vocational skills needed to enter the occupation of your choice. You will be prepared for at least entry-level employment depending on your experience, past work experience, and previous training. Many of the individuals with whom we work will be seeking training for his/her first job. Skill acquisition is critical to successful employment, and our experienced staff can provide you with the supports you may need in order to successfully enter the competitive job market.

Occupational skills training can occur at our Woodlawn facility in Cincinnati, or in some cases, can occur in a community employment site. Many of the training experiences offered by Goodwill will pay you minimum wage while you are in training. Some facts about our occupational skills training programs:

• Our Woodlawn facility in Cincinnati provides paid training opportunities in: Janitorial, Food Services, Building Maintenance/Grounds Keeper, Retail, and Dock Work.
• Training opportunities in many occupations are available at our Woodlawn facility, or can be arranged at a private industry or business site. Community sites may be either pre-established or developed to suit your particular needs. Individuals participating in community-based training will be provided daily support on the job by Goodwill staff in order to facilitate a successful training experience. While these community training sites are not likely to be where you will eventually be employed, the sites do represent the type of employment you can expect to find following your training program. 
• Goodwill provides a comprehensive training program in office procedures and computer technology. This program is geared towards those individuals who are interested in pursuing jobs that require solid computer skills, e.g., secretarial or data entry operator positions. See Office Procedures & Computer Technology.
• All students in Goodwill's occupational skills training programs have the option to receive computer literacy classes, which is an introduction to personal computers and the most popular software in use today. This training is provided at no extra cost, and is offered in recognition that nearly all jobs now require some knowledge and interaction with computers.
• The length of training programs can vary depending on your particular training needs and skills. On average, most occupational skills training programs, whether in our facility or in the community, range from 6 to 26 weeks. Since training is highly individualized, and you proceed at your own pace, the amount of time it takes to acquire the skills you need for employment is very much dependent on any skills you bring with you, whether or not you have some type of work experience, and, of course, the requirements of the occupation you wish to pursue.
• Assistive technology is available on site to assist students with special needs to fully access Goodwill's training opportunities through the use of adaptive equipment or work environment modifications.