COMPUTERS
low-income families and first-generation high school graduates.
When their 21-week experience ends, participants will have built a computer, connected it to a network, completed troubleshooting and cybersecurity lessons and, ideally, earned up to three industry credentials.
At the end of the Tech Corps program, participants can take the Computing Technology Industry Association IT Fundamentals exam, which qualifies them for entrylevel jobs such as at help desks or call centers. The Per Scholas program allows them to branch into more specialized careers by taking two other exams, A+ and Network+. The tests cost hundreds of dollars, but the programs cover the cost of each test twice.
Participants also hone career skills such as interviewing and creating resumes.
Officials with both organizations said the new partnership just made sense.
Tech Corps offers programs for students in grades 3-12, but nothing for them after graduation, said Hope Hill, the nonprofit’s manager of special projects. Meanwhile, Per Scholas serves the latter age group, but many graduates aren’t aware of their programs, especially when options such as college and the military are emphasized, managing director Toni Cunningham said.
“It seemed like the perfect solution to the question, ‘What’s next?’” Hill said.
There is a big demand for technology jobs, many of which aren’t being filled.
“Skills-based training is a way to have a high impact in the short term,” Cunningham said.
Employment in the computer and information technology sector is projected to grow 13% from 2016 to 2026, nearly double the 7% average growth for all other occupations, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. Such tech areas are projected to add about 557,100 jobs, and demand for these workers probably will generated by greater emphasis on cloud computing, the collection and storage of big data, and information security.
The median annual wage for occupations in computer and information technology was $86,320 in May 2018; the median for all other occupations was $38,640.
Geeta Khanal, an 18-yearold Mifflin High School graduate, said the small, close-knit classes during her summer Tech Corps course made her more comfortable. When Khanal took two years of information technology classes at Columbus Downtown High School, she often felt intimidated as one of just a handful of girls in a male-dominated program, she said.
Now she has gained confidence alongside her male classmates, who are also her friends.
“I’ve learned new ways to solve problems, and I don’t have to worry about what they think about me if I say something wrong,” Khanal said.
“It’s like a puzzle — you just put things together. It’s fun.”