Though Riverland Community College students Harold Pitcock and Brian Mellang lead very different lives, they have one thing in common.

Last year, both men were laid off from their jobs — but instead of going out and looking for another job, they decided to go back to school full time in a different field.

Mellang, of Albert Lea, had worked second-shift at Viracon in Owatonna for six years, when he got the news in November that he no longer had his job.

Now he is pursuing training in Riverland’s auto service technician program, which is something he said he’s wanted to do since he graduated from Albert Lea High School in 2002.

“You can’t do anything without going to school,” Mellang said. “You can work in a factory, but that’s a dead-end job.”

Pitcock, of Fairmont, worked at Nortech Aerospace Systems in Blue Earth when he got notice in July of last year that he was going to be laid off during what was a mass layoff for the company.

Like Mellang, he decided to pursue training in the auto service technician program, where he said there’s a larger demand than what he was previously doing.

The two men are learning the ins and outs of engines, brakes, wheel alignments and suspensions, among other things.

Their end goal is to open up their own auto shops.

Going back to school to get additional training is a growing trend as employers are looking for skilled workers to help fuel the recovery of the recession.

To be able to go through the training, both Pitcock and Mellang are receiving assistance through the state’s dislocated worker program.

Mike Miller, a career counselor at Workforce Development, said the dislocated worker program is for someone who has lost their job through no fault of their own. The primary purpose of the program is to help the person find employment.

If that requires training, then that’s something the program helps with.

Miller said the program receives federal funds, state funds and other special project funds that can help dislocated workers with expenses such as tuition, books and supplies. It does not cover living expenses.

Steve Bowron, dean of academic affairs at Riverland, said the opportunities of hiring people just because they’re available are going to be diminished as the economy improves itself. Many industries are looking more at education and skillsets than ever before.

“Even though it’s disruptive and painful sometimes to these individuals, for many of them it’s actually the best thing that can actually happen to them,” Bowron said. “It’s forced them to go back and get an education, and it allows them to get back into the job market at a higher level or give them the edge at getting hired back.”

This spring semester, Riverland saw an increase by 654 new students at its Albert Lea, Austin, Owatonna and online locations. Though this number cannot be solely attributed to people who have lost their jobs and who are going back to school, it does show the emphasis people are taking on educating themselves.

That’s exactly what happened to Ross Knutson, who went back to school 18 years ago and earned an occupational proficiency degree in mechanical drafting and design technology at the age of 37 after being setback from what was originally Wilson & Co.

After getting the degree, he first ended up back at what had changed into Farmland Foods; however, instead of being on the labor side, he was in the engineering department.

But then there was another hit to the meat industry and the company quit slaughtering hogs in Albert Lea. Five hundred hourly people and 100 salaried people were let go. Knutson was one of the salaried people who lost his job.

Through personal contacts — and thanks to his new training — he got hooked up at Lou Rich Inc., where he has now been for 16 years.

“That’s the best thing that ever happened,” he said. “I actually do what I was trained to do and more.”

He said he enjoys his job, where he gets to see projects developed from the idea stage right on through the installation of machinery.

“It was well worth the effort,” he said.

And his salary has increased over the years, too.

Bowron said Riverland Community College is available to help dislocated workers in any way it can and to provide them with the educational skills they need to get back into the job market.

The main number to the Albert Lea campus is 379-3300.