 Graduates of Cisco IT Essentials at EMERGE
On Wednesday, September 28, 18 students graduated from the Cisco IT
Essentials training course, an introductory IT course sponsored by Minnesota
Computers for Schools and EMERGE,
partners of the City of Minneapolis Employment and Training MSP
TechHire program.
Seventeen students received a certificate of
graduation at the event, and five were honored for completing internships.
Students of the course became versed in the computer hardware and software
skills necessary for entry-level ICT positions.
After earning their IT Essentials certification, 12 students have moved
up to the next step of IT Training, the A+ prep class. For those interested in beginning their IT
education, there are two upcoming opportunities to enroll in Adult IT
Essentials beginning on Monday, November 14 at Neighborhood House and on
Monday, December 4 at EMERGE.
MSP TechHire is an initiative to close the workforce skills gap in the
high tech economy by building a path for diverse workers to access training,
support and tech jobs across the Greater Minneapolis Region. To learn more about the City’s involvement or
its partners visit here.
 Rhonda Engleman left her job in health care to become a stay-at-home
mom. As her children grew older, however, she wanted to reenter the
workforce. So, she went to the City of
Minneapolis Employment and Training website for information on finding employment
and discovered MSP TechHire. Through that, she found the Creating
IT Futures IT-Ready program and applied for it right away.
Every day of the eight week program was different and exciting to
Rhonda. Some days she was being
challenged by new ideas from industry professionals and other days she had to
disassemble computers and put them back together – making sure they worked.
IT-Ready also emphasized public speaking, participating in teamwork exercises,
and building relationships with other students, who through the experience
became lifelong friends.
Rhonda’s IT-Ready experience cumulated by taking her
CompTIA A+ certification and receiving a job offer as a Technical Analyst with
Medtronic, allowing her to continue to explore her interest in the medical
field. Rhonda says that the IT field is
not just for anyone that is a math or science whiz, but for anyone that has a
desire and commitment to learning something new.
Learn
more about the MSP TechHire Initiative and its associated programs, such as
IT-Ready.
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Gov. Mark Dayton has announced two new hiring initiatives designed to
improve the low rate of employment of Minnesotans with disabilities in state
government.
The Connect 700 program will give people with disabilities up to 700
hours of on-the-job work experience in state agencies to demonstrate their
abilities. A second supported work program will offer people with disabilities
up to 50 full-time positions in state agencies.
“We need to lead by example,” Dayton said. “We can’t expect businesses
and nonprofits to be spearheading new efforts if we aren’t leading the way.”
The move is part of a longer-term effort by the state to reverse what
had been a sharp decline in the state’s employment of people with disabilities.
In 1999 the rate was 10 percent and was less than 4 percent in 2013.
In August 2014, Dayton directed state agencies to increase the share of
disabled workers to at least 7 percent by August 2018. Since then, the state
has designed a model for recruiting and hiring people with disabilities, and
has mandated quarterly reporting on hiring targets.
Read
the whole story.
Minnesota employers added 1,900 jobs in September, according to
seasonally adjusted figures released by the Minnesota Department of Employment
and Economic Development (DEED).
Those numbers, combined with figures from August that were revised from
1,500 jobs lost to 500 jobs gained, brought total job growth in Minnesota to
40,899 in the past year. State jobs are up 1.4 percent from the same month a
year ago. The U.S. rate of job growth was 1.7 percent over the past year.
The state unemployment rate held steady in September at a seasonally
adjusted 4 percent. The U.S. unemployment rate was 5 percent in September.
In the Metropolitan Statistical Areas, the following regions gained
jobs in the past 12 months: Minneapolis-St. Paul MSA (up 2 percent), Rochester
MSA (up 3.7 percent) and St. Cloud MSA (up 2.8 percent). The Duluth-Superior
MSA was unchanged, while the Mankato MSA was down 0.2 percent.
Read
the whole report.
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