CompTIA Newsroom

Applications Accepted Until September 27

Portland, OR — After a successful pilot class last spring, Creating IT Futures will bring its free IT-Ready career program back to Portland, OR, this fall, allowing adults to get trained for their first jobs in tech. The eight-week IT-Ready class funded by Worksystems and the Urban League of Portland will be hosted at CENTRL Office on NW Everett in Portland starting October 23. Applications will be accepted through September 27 at www.ITReady.com.

“Across the country, we’re helping adults get their foot in the door for a tech career,” said Charles Eaton, CEO, Creating IT Futures. “We plan to make Portland one of our main locations for tech training. Beyond this fall class, we’re already planning to hold classes in the winter and spring of 2018.”

At no cost to students, IT-Ready assesses, trains, certifies and places unemployed and under-employed adults in entry-level tech jobs. Since Creating IT Futures launched IT-Ready in 2012, 85 percent of its students have earned their CompTIA A+ certification and more than 80 percent have landed paid IT jobs.

One-third of the spring Portland IT-Ready class were veterans, and one of those veterans, Zachary Chandler, who had retired from the Navy in February, received his CompTIA A+ certification and landed a job as a government contractor immediately upon graduation. He now is traveling for the Navy handling desktop support and deploying the Navy's Next Generation Enterprise Network (NGEN).

Fellow Navy veteran Brittian McIntosh said during his IT-Ready graduation, “I was looking for something to give me hope. I found IT-Ready.” McIntosh had been unemployed for 18 months prior to seeing an ad for IT-Ready. After getting his CompTIA A+ certification and graduating in June, he accepted a job with ACI Federal working at the Naval Air Station on the Patuxent River.

Looking for a stable career, Sean Murphy learned about IT-Ready through the Urban League. During the spring class, he passed his CompTIA A+ certification and then accepted an eight-week internship through the Urban Tech Jobs Program with CHR Creative, an IT consulting firm. After the internship period is done, Murphy expects to enter CHR Creative as a full-time level 1 technician.

IT-Ready graduate Pepper Urbaniak is excited to get back to work after getting his CompTIA A+ certification. Last week he started working for Scan One as a quality and process management specialist.

What Do IT-Ready Students Learn?
In the IT-Ready program, students get hands-on labs taking apart and building desktop computers and other hardware; learn to configure, troubleshoot, and secure operating systems, computer networks, and peripherals. Students also receive targeted professional development in key business “soft” skills such as professional communication and presentation, teamwork and collaboration, and critical thinking and problem solving. IT-Ready graduates are grounded in these key skills and prepared to apply them on day one of their new jobs. After completing their training, the students sit for the CompTIA A+ certification exam which covers desktop and help-desk technical support duties and skills.

IT-Ready students receive free tuition, books and learning materials, more than 240 hours of classroom and hands-on tech and soft skills training, and certification vouchers toward the CompTIA A+ exam. To demonstrate their commitment to the training and pursuing an IT career, IT-Ready students are allowed only one absence and two late days during the program. The next Portland class starts October 23 and runs through December 15, and is held from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. every weekday.

Beyond recruiting for participants for IT-Ready training, Creating IT Futures is looking for Portland businesses to consider the resumes of CompTIA A+ certified IT-Ready graduates and interview qualified candidates for entry-level IT positions. Dozens of participating IT-Ready employers in other cities include such recognized names as HealthPartners, JPMorgan Chase, TEKsystems, Time Warner Cable and US Bank. These companies have received the benefits of skilled workers and simultaneously helped their communities. Interested employers should contact Tom Pinger at tpinger@comptia.org.

IT-Ready in Portland is made possible through funding from the US Department of Labor. To qualify for training, applicants must complete a screening process through WorkSource Portland Metro to determine eligibility for funding.

Potential employers, mentors, students and community partners can learn more at www.ITReady.com.

About Creating IT Futures
Founded in 1998 by CompTIA, Creating IT Futures is a 501(c)(3) charity with the mission of helping populations under-represented in the information technology industry and individuals who are lacking in opportunity to prepare for, secure, and be successful in IT careers. Learn more at www.creatingITfutures.org. 

About Worksystems
Worksystems is a nonprofit agency that accelerates economic growth in the City of Portland, Multnomah and Washington counties by pursuing and investing resources to improve the quality of the workforce. They design and coordinate workforce development programs and services delivered through a network of local partners to help people get the skills, training and education they need to go to work or to advance in their careers. Learn more at www.worksystems.org.

About Urban League of Portland
Established in 1945, the Urban League of Portland is one of the oldest African American service, civil rights and advocacy organizations in the area. They are part of a network of more than 90 National Urban League Affiliates across the country and are recognized as one of the leading voices for African Americans and other people of color in the region. The Urban League of Portland’s mission is to empower African Americans and others to achieve equality in education, employment, health, economic security and quality of life. Learn more at https://ulpdx.org/who-we-are/.

Media Contact:
Lisa Fasold                                                         
Creating IT Futures                        
630-678-8558                                                   
lfasold@comptia.org