Page 4 The Skanner CAREERS EDITION June 7, 2017
CAREERS
Urban League Offers Tech Job Training for Under-Employed Adults
By Melanie Sevcenko
Of The Skanner News
T
he Urban League
of Portland has
teamed up with
higher education
institutions,
training
centers, and local em-
ployers to launch the Ur-
ban Tech Jobs Program,
which helps under-em-
ployed adults break into
the tech industry.
Initiated this past
March through a De-
partment of Labor grant,
Portland’s Urban League
is one of seven affiliates
of the national organi-
zation that is facilitating
the program.
The tech jobs project
was created to bridge
the gap between a pool of
long-term unemployed
individuals and a boom-
ing industry that offers
sustainable employment.
In fact, jobs in STEM
— science, technology,
engineering and mathe-
matics – have among the
highest earnings pro-
jections and job growth,
while holding the lowest
unemployment rate over
other industries.
With the first cohort
underway, the Urban
League’s second cohort
will begin accepting ap-
plications on July 31 for a
September 25 start date.
The program is hosting
an open information ses-
sion on July 18.
Over the course of
three separate cohorts
running through 2019,
the accelerated technolo-
gy training program will
have served some 95 peo-
ple.
Having already com-
pleted job readiness
workshops – in partner-
ship with the Leadership
Lab – the program’s first
“
a local company. Some
positions also carry the
possibility of full-time
hire.
“We found that the lo-
cal tech community is
very supportive of the
program,” said Urban
Tech Jobs Team Leader,
Andrea Gall. “As we start
getting more name rec-
ognition, we’ll start find-
ing more employers that
are interested in specifi-
cally pulling candidates
out of our pool, which is
the ideal situation.”
Gaining the confidence
To be eligible for UTJP,
a person must be un-
It’s a stellar business model
for people who are changing
their career fields or have an
interest in the tech world
32 participants are cur-
rently enrolled in tech
courses.
With classes offered
by Creating IT Futures
Foundation, participants
can choose between Mi-
crosoft, CompTIA and
Cisco certifications, be-
fore embarking on a paid
on-the-job training with
employed or under-em-
ployed, have a high
school diploma or GED,
and be 18 years or older.
Forty-seven
percent
of participants in the
first cohort are African
American; and overall,
41 percent are women
and 59 percent are men.
While every partici-
pant comes to the table
with a varying level of
education and tech ex-
pertise, some enter the
program with little to no
background in the field.
Yet part of UTJP’s goal
is to help participants
identify their transfer-
able skills and pivot them
from their past experi-
ence towards a new ca-
reer path; for example, a
retail background could
lead to a customer care
position at a software
company.
“It’s a stellar business
model for people who
are changing their ca-
reer fields or have an in-
terest in the tech world,”
said participant Jerome
Smith, who previously
served in the air force.
After the recession hit,
Smith — a father of five
— lost his job and found
himself living in his car.
Through an assistance
program for veterans, he
learned about UTJP and
enrolled in the nick of
time.
“The confidence I’ve
gained in just four weeks
— to be able to know what
I’m doing with comput-
ers – it really increased
my value,” Smith told The
Skanner. He’s now living
in a veterans’ family shel-
ter in Beaverton, with
part-time employment
in private security, and
has aspirations to work
for Boeing in the field of
cyber security.
PHOTO COURTESY OF URBAN LEAGUE OF PORTLAND
Program includes soft skills, tech certifications and on-the-job training
Wraparound services
In addition to UTJP’s
flagship tech training,
UTJP participants (left to right) Betty Wakgira and Genet Tsegaw.
the Urban League offers
supplemental programs
that are unique to the
organization, such as
healthcare and housing
assistance. The result is
a wraparound services
program that reaches be-
yond workforce develop-
ment.
“A part of our popu-
lation that we serve in
this program is people
that have a legal history,”
explained
Cinna’Mon
Williams, career and life
coach for UTJP, who re-
cruits participants to the
program. “We work with
people on how to write
their resumes in a way
that they’re transparent,”
continued Williams. “We
teach them how to inter-
view and disclose. And
personally, I help people
work through the men-
tal aspect of transition-
ing and recovering from
mistakes in their past.”
After soft skills and
tech training is complete,
Williams provides sup-
port to participants six
months into their full-
time employment.
Potential careers
According to the De-
partment of Commerce,
employees of STEM jobs
earn 26 percent more
than from non-STEM
jobs; and between 2008
and 2018, job openings
in those sectors are ex-
pected to increase by 17
percent.
“This isn’t a quick fix
program — it’s more
long-term to bring you
to that next level in your
skillset,” said Gall.
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