There are now nearly 50 more industry-recognized credentials available to Ohio high school students.

According to the press release issued by the Ohio Department of Transportation, the credentials have been added to guide career-based program development and to help students understand and prepare for Ohio’s in-demand careers.

“We owe big thanks to Ohio’s businesses for their input on these credentials. This invaluable information is helping show students all the great opportunities for their future success,” said Paolo DeMaria, superintendent of public instruction. “With these new credentials, students can create road maps to a career and even to higher education opportunities.”

Officials note in the release, it is often a monumental task for businesses to go through the process of finding, hiring and retaining high-quality employees.

The industry-recognized credentials allow employers to ‘validate the knowledge and skills of potential employees and saves valuable time in assessing the skills of job applicants,’ according to the ODE.

“ODE’s innovation to allow HUMTOWN PRODUCTS to have insight and input to these new credentials is revolutionary in connecting education to business,” said Mark Lamoncha, president, and CEO, HUMTOWN PRODUCTS. “Without them, we are just hiring people that show up to work at a job. These credentials align the graduates with skills that they can perform as a professional in a career.”

The department also offers two examples of the new credentials now available:

Certified Registered Central Service Technician – These individuals work mostly in hospitals, nursing homes, and other medical facilities. Their tasks include sterilizing medical equipment for patient care or surgery. The technicians must be familiar with tools used in surgery and a variety of other activities within the hospital. They must also be aware of how to sterilize the tools and equipment. The average hourly rate is $14.56 per hour. Range is $23,921-43,313. Source: PayScale.com..

Certified Logistics Technician – These employees are responsible for making sure all supplies and equipment for certain locations are taken care of. This often will involve choosing, ordering and distributing important equipment. Inventory reports are also included in the job description so to ensure all supplies and equipment are accounted for. Average hourly rate is $16.71 per hour. Range is $26,837-59,864. Source: PayScale.com.

ODE notes that one-way students can earn a high school diploma is by earning an industry-recognized credential and achieving a workforce readiness score on the WorkKeys assessment. Here is the complete list of industry-recognized credentials in 13 career categories.

Each one links to the sponsoring organization, which can be national, statewide or regional. The sponsoring organization determines the qualifications and testing that the credential requires.

Interested students and families should contact their local school districts about the opportunity to earn a credential and be job ready upon graduation. There are some credentials that high school seniors can earn in one year through the Senior Only Credential Program.