He Fell Into a Career--in Job Counseling

Paul Snyder has spent the last quarter-century helping Orange County high school students and adults find their way in the world of work.

Snyder, the 59-year-old superintendent of the Coastline Regional Occupational Program, identifies with the dilemma young adults face. His own career crossroads came in 1956, when the 18-year-old star left fielder was offered a tryout with the Chicago White Sox.

His father said no.

“He wanted me to go to college and pursue education instead of sports. I certainly wasn’t happy about it at the time, but it was one of the wisest things my father ever did. He was a very strong person. I had my feet under his table, and what he decided, I did.”

Snyder grew up in a relatively poor family in the sparsely populated northern Indiana town of Mill Creek. His father was a highway maintenance foreman and his mother was town barber. Snyder never had a room of his own--he slept on the couch.

“I was an athlete, kind of the hometown hero in this small community of 80 people. There were 13 in my high school graduating class. Because I was from such a small town, I hadn’t really seriously considered going to college. But I was being offered these scholarships, and my father was determined that I was going to go.”

He ended up at Ball State Teacher’s College, not because he intended to become a teacher, but because the college offered the most scholarship money. But he warmed to the idea of a career in education, spending the first 11 years of his working life as a high school teacher, coach and counselor. It was a lucky but haphazard way to find one’s way in the world, Snyder said.

He became superintendent of the Coastline Regional Occupational Program in Costa Mesa in 1972, a year after its founding. The program now gives on-the-job training and classroom instruction in a variety of occupations to students at 26 high schools, one of four such programs in the county and 72 in the state. The program also serves adults, who constituted about 25% of the 7,000 students enrolled during the 1996-97 school year.

“One of the things I really enjoy about this program is that we have a lot of kids finding out what they don’t want to do the rest of their life, as well as finding out what they want to do.

“We’ll get a person who maybe wanted to be a nurse ever since she was a little girl. We’ll put her in Hoag Hospital while she is still in high school, and suddenly she realizes that she doesn’t like being around blood and sick people and all that kind of stuff. She’ll redirect her career instead of being stuck in a job she hates.

“I read a study that said something like 80% of the people who work dislike their jobs. And the major reason they dislike their jobs is because they are overtrained for what they are expected to do. That frustrates folks.”

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During the most recent economic downturn, Coastline’s enrollment swelled with unemployed adults--often college graduates--looking to change careers, Snyder said. Now that the economy is stronger, more college graduates are getting jobs in their chosen fields. But even high school graduates who are going to college are getting job training, Snyder said, to work their way through school at higher wages.

“We’re trying to open up opportunities for these students instead of driving them into one narrow decision about their careers. Experience is the best teacher. It gives them an opportunity to learn about things they never knew were available.”

Snyder says he has no regrets about his own career path, especially since 1983 when he spent a week in spring training with former Chicago Cubs star players.

“I was a professional baseball player for eight days. I was on the team with [former Cub right fielder] Billy Williams all week, and I got a double against Ken Holtzman.

“I got a taste of the big leagues, and I’m really glad I didn’t pursue it. It’s really tough. Every day you’ve got to get up and get on spikes; you’ve got to feel good every day; you’ve got to be consistent or people think you’re dogging it. Quite frankly, it was kind of boring. You end up doing the same thing over and over and over and over. I pulled a muscle.

“I went there thinking it would give me the opportunity to see if it was something I wish I would have pursued. I love baseball; I still love baseball, but I’m sure glad I didn’t pursue it.”

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Profile: Paul Snyder

Age: 59

Hometown: Mill Creek, Ind.

Residence: Irvine

Family: Wife, Sally; one grown son; three grandchildren

Education: Bachelor’s degree in education from Ball State Teacher’s College; master’s and education specialist degrees in guidance and counseling from Indiana University; administrative credential from UC Riverside

Background: Thirty-six years in public education; taught business and physical education and coached for four years at Rolling Prairie High School, Ind.; counselor at Eisenhower High School in Rialto for seven years; superintendent of Coastline Regional Occupational Program for 25 years, the longest serving superintendent of a regional occupational program [ROP] in California; named outstanding ROP superintendent by the state Department of Education for 1988-89; chairman of Leadership Tomorrow for Irvine, Newport Beach and Costa Mesa; chairman of the School to Career Committee of the county Private Industry Council; owner of two Ballpark Pizza restaurants in South County

Quote: “We keep forgetting how young kids still are at 16, 17 and 18. We want them to be grown up and we say, ‘Make a decision on your career.’ What we need to say is, ‘Have some experiences first that will help you make that decision.”

Source: Paul Snyder; Researched by RUSS LOAR / For The Times