Tech Collective, Rhode Island’s IT and Bioscience industry association, held its “IT On Demand†program graduation on Friday, Dec. 20 at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Warwick. All 16 participants successfully completed the program, with 8 placed in internships and 8 placed in fulltime jobs to date.
The IT On Demand program is funded by a Governor’s Workforce Board Rhode Island Innovative Partnership Grant along with the Community College of Rhode Island’s Pathways to Advance Career Education (PACE) program.
Designed and delivered with industry involvement, Tech Collective’s IT On Demand program is geared at unemployed and underemployed mid-level IT practitioners. The program aims to ‘skill up’ participants and prepare them to re-enter the workforce. The 14-week pilot run of the program began in September and consisted of three training components: technical, business, and experiential.
Philip Terrien is an IT on Demand participant who is completing his internship at Envision Technology Advisors. Addressing the graduation audience and employers, Terrien acknowledged his job search struggle, saying “I’ve been trying to get in touch with all of you for a long time. But it wasn’t happening from my basement lab.â€
Terrien continued: “In Rhode Island we are lucky to have businesses becoming creative in their talent search and finding untapped resources through programs like IT On Demand… In the last eight weeks I have earned three valuable certifications, but even more importantly, I have expanded my professional network exponentially. I have discovered that I have an ability to run effective team meetings and organize projects through my business management training at Bryant University. I didn’t know I could do that.â€
From a candidate pool of more than 50 applicants and after attending a morning of “speed dating†with industry representatives, the 16 IT On Demand participants were ultimately selected by Rhode Island IT employers. Participants then entered a rigorous curriculum that included:
- Technical Training: the most in-demand technical practice area as chosen by area IT employers. For this session, employers chose VMware Data Center Virtualization, with training to be provided by New Horizons. Participants additionally have the opportunity to become VCP5-DCV certified.
- Business: including customer service, critical thinking, communication, and project management. Bryant University’s Executive Development Center was chose to deliver the business skills training, with participants earning a Business Management Certificate.
- Experiential: an 8-week, hands-on learning component with a RI IT employer. Employers interviewed and selected participants for the internship positions.
Ten Rhode Island IT employers hosted IT On Demand participants for experiential learning internships, including: Atrion Networking Corporation; Brave River Solutions; Carousel Industries; Envision Technology Advisors; netsense, a division of INNOVEX; PC Troubleshooters; RB IT Solutions; the Rhode Island Foundation; Rite-Solutions; and the State of Rhode Island, Joint Committee on Legislative Services.