“It changed my life”
IT training opened doors for Annapolis Valley woman laid off during COVID
High school wasn’t a great experience for Erica Clark.
The Nova Scotia woman felt frustrated most of the time.
It wasn’t until she was 29 that she understood why she had struggled.
Clark has attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.
It didn’t mean that she couldn’t learn, but that she had to learn in a different way.
She was always interested in computers, she said, but without the proper high school credentials she didn’t think she would ever be able to land a job in the tech sector.
Instead, she spent 12 years in the food service industry, working each summer with the Department of National Defense as a cook at the
Air Cadet summer camp in Greenwood.
Then COVID shut down the summer camp program in 2020 and Clark was out of work.
“So, I had to start thinking of what I really wanted to do.”
Before the pandemic she had already been musing about switching to a new career, she said, but hadn’t figured out what to do or how to make it happen.
GET INTO IT
Then she found out about the Get Into IT program offered by Digital Nova Scotia.
The program, supported by Nova Scotia’s Department of Labour Skills and Immigration, is designed to help people who have faced barriers to entering the province’s technology sector.
It offers 25 weeks of training, for free.
Clark liked the fact she didn’t have to come up with the money for training. She also liked that she could do the course online and on a schedule that allowed her to juggle school and her current job as a grocery store cashier.
“Get Into IT enables Nova Scotia community members who face barriers to employment to have access to digital skill development, career and job search support, industry mentorship, and pathways to employment,” says Wayne Sumarah, CEO of Digital Nova Scotia.
The programs offered are IT Support Specialist (with course content developed by Google) and Cybersecurity Analyst (with course content developed by IRM).
Digital Nova Scotia partnered with Coursera to provide the training.
Sumarah said the training programs were developed based on industry hiring
needs, industry consultations, and labour market data.
Analysis of in-demand skills and job prospects for digital occupations in Atlantic Canada determined that training focused on cybersecurity and IT support is highly relevant, said Sumarah.
According to Digital Nova Scotia, job opportunities for information systems analysts and consultants and user support technicians were two out of the top five digital occupations with the most job postings across Nova Scotia and the Atlantic provinces.
Mehul Jagawat signed up for the IT support training module after his old employer had to lay off workers during the pandemic.
Jagawat had been out of work for nearly two years when he learned about the Get Into IT training program.
He already had some IT experience and thought this would be a good opportunity to add to his tech skills.
He said he liked how the program was structured and delivered.
Participants were able to learn at their own pace, he said, and the course was broken down into bite-sized pieces.
"And we had mentors who provided one-on-one support if we needed extra help," he added.
Jagawat found a new fulltime job just after he signed up for the program, but because the course schedule was so flexible he was able to complete it.
Right now he’s working for a payroll company and he
says the knowledge and personal connections he gained through the course prepares him for other opportunities that might come up in the tech sector.
LOOKING FORWARD
Clark recently wrote her final exam in the cyber security training course.
She hopes it’s just the first step to something more.
“When I get my certificate, I’m hoping I can go on to do more training for IT.”
Her plan is to apply to the Nova Scotia Community College to finish up the courses she needs for high school completion and then conquer an IT program.
She admitted she was afraid of “school” after years of being away.
“I was terrified because it was something new,” she said, noting there were some hard times. “I had a few moments when I just needed to cry, and I did. But I’m glad I stuck with it.”
The Get Into IT program changed her life, she said.
“It taught me that I am intelligent, and I was capable of learning all along, but I just needed a learning program that is user-friendly. It also taught me that I am stronger than I thought I was. Normally, when things get tough, I’d starting thinking it was time to walk away.”
The 25 weeks of learning, and succeeding, also helped squash self-doubt.
“I just feel more confident in myself.”