Covid-19 Response
We know that education and workforce development organizations are suffering due to Covid-19 and the restrictions placed on traditional training for information technology students and hiring efforts on the part of tech companies seeking to fill their many open positions. Creating IT Futures is working hard to help our programs adjust, using technology as a tool to quickly make changes that help organizations work better and smarter.
Following are updates on our programs, including ways you or your company can support them, as well as ways we can help you make needed adjustments.
Creating IT Futures – New Challenges = New Approaches
Creating IT Futures is expanding programs to attract those individuals looking for new opportunities in the wake of COVID-19 and its effect on the economy. And we’re crafting new and innovative ways to address today’s workforce challenges.
Support is needed to continue the expansion of both our adult and youth programs. Donations underwrite tuition, expand programming and enable necessary support for students and instructors. Get more details here.
Contact us today for more information on sponsorship options.
Customized Virtual Training
Providing high demand skills to get people back to work, CompTIA is responding to the COVID-19 pandemic by conducting live, virtual training to help unemployed and underemployed individuals upskill during this crisis.
Download this information sheet to learn more, or visit www.CompTIA.org/custom-training.
Creating IT Futures Blog
Recent blog posts highlight ways we’re working to adjust our programming to respond to Covid-19:
How to Narrow the Tech Skills Gap While Recovering from a Pandemic
Randi Parker, senior director, partner engagement, for Creating IT Futures advises technologists concerned about our nation’s tech skills gap to get involved early – and stay involved.
Pandemic Puts Spotlight on Increased Need for Tech Professionals
The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the need for entry-level tech professionals. Employers seeking motivated and knowledgeable individuals ready to hit the ground running can find their ideal candidates from CompTIA Tech Career Academy, which just graduated its first online class.
Tech Job Market Remains Strong During Pandemic
Charles Eaton acknowledged there was a dip in job openings in March and April, but he believes that certain sectors of the tech industry as a whole will weather this down turn fairly well.
Narrowing the Cybersecurity Skills Gap Now for the Post-COVID-19 Future
CompTIA and Creating IT Futures executive Amy Kardel joins a National CyberWatch Center webinar discussing strategies for narrowing today’s skills gap by tapping a talent pool energized by COVID-19 to launch cybersecurity careers.
TechGirlz Goes Virtual in Response to Covid-19
With in-person TechGirlz workshops cancelled due to coronavirus, the organization keeps up its mission of inspiring girls to explore the possibilities of technology and creates virtual TechShopz.
Lending Support to Teens in a Virtual New Hands-Free World
.jpg?sfvrsn=bb768f28_0 "Classroom copy (1)")
The manager for Creating IT Futures’ after-school program in Chicago says what her teens really need now is a hug — even if it’s a virtual one.
Technologist Talk Podcast
Our Technologist Talk podcast features conversations with workforce development leaders about shaping the careers of today’s and tomorrow’s technology workers.
Episode 39 – Talking Help Desk Training: How CompTIA Tech’s Virtual Training Helps IT-Ready Students Reach Beyond the Classroom
October 26, 2020 As pandemic distancing protocols push many of our business interactions into the virtual realm, we face an inconvenient truth: We just can’t replicate what we do in person, online. Or, can we? Listen as Ben Rohling, who leads development for CompTIA Tech Career Academy’s IT support specialist training curriculum, shares how he and his fellow instructors discovered that, in some ways, pivoting to virtual classrooms didn’t make training harder, it made it better.
Episode 37 – Talking Tech Training: Why Now is the Time to Consider Launching a Tech Career
September 15, 2020 Despite the pandemic, employers across all sectors of the U.S. economy continue to hire workers for tech jobs. That’s according to a recent analysis by CompTIA’s research team. But does this positive trend mean you, or someone you know, should consider launching a tech career during trying times? Listen to Adam Turner and Ben Rohling of CompTIA Tech Career Academy explain why the answer to that question is “Yes.”
Episode 36 – Talking Tech Careers: How IT Help Desk Technicians Narrow the Distance Between Colleagues in Pandemic Times
August 28, 2020 How can IT Help Desk technicians narrow the distance between colleagues created by pandemic precautions? By understanding that IT support is about humans, not hardware. Listen as Priyanka Neupane, a senior IT supervisor for medical technology maker Medtronic, describes how she recruits, hires and trains specialists for the company’s U.S. IT support center from CompTIA Tech’s IT-Ready program.
Episode 35 – Talking Workforce: How to Narrow the Tech Skills Gap While Recovering from Pandemic Conditions
August 26, 2020 Per the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, by the end of this decade employment in tech occupations is projected to grow much faster than the average for all other occupations. But how can our nation’s workforce rise to meet this demand when a tech skills gap already leaves about half a million positions working with technology unfilled at any given time? And, as our economy works to recover from pandemic conditions? Listen as Randi Parker, senior director at Creating IT Futures, shares advice for concerned technologists.
Episode 32 – Talking Training: How Tech Skills Can Pandemic-Proof Your Career
June 25, 2020 Is it possible to Pandemic-Proof your career? If so, developing IT skills may just be the way to do it – despite your current job experience. Join CompTIA vice president Amy Kardel and Charles Eaton, CEO of CompTIA Tech Career Academy and Creating IT Futures, for a conversation about how continuous learning, certifications and working for Managed Services Providers (MSPs) can help you transition or improve your career during trying times.
Episode 31 – Talking Career Inspiration: How a Pandemic Pivot to Virtual TechShopz Reinforced TechGirlz’ Mission
June 10, 2020 For more than a decade TechGirlz, a nonprofit program of Creating IT Futures, has been inspiring middle-school girls to explore the possibilities of technology to empower their future careers through TechShopz – free, fun, interactive workshops bringing young women face to face with tech mentors. Then, COVID-19 struck, making in-person events impossible indefinitely. Listen as Amy Cliett explains how this unexpected operational challenge evolved into an unanticipated deepening of TechGirlz’ value.
Episode 29 – Talking Tech Careers: How Training for an IT Job Today Leads to Tomorrow’s Growth
May 29, 2020 Why is a national pandemic a good time to consider your career options? The answer: Growth. Adam Turner, Chief Academic Officer of the newly launched CompTIA Tech Career Academy, explains why, if COVID-19’s economic impact has you feeling the limitations of your current career, a switch to the technology industry may provide the growth potential you seek.
Episode 28 – Talking Tech Careers: Why Now is a Good Time to Consider Launching a Technology Career
May 06, 2020 Is a national pandemic a bad time for changing careers? The answer depends on the individual considering a change, the reasons motivating a change and the industry on the other side of that change. Listen as Val Haskell, chair of CompTIA’s Advancing Tech Talent and Diversity Community explains why she believes now is a good time to consider launching a career working with technology – especially with the support of the new CompTIA Tech Career Academy.
Episode 27 – Talking Workforce: Why the Technology Sector Still Adds Jobs Amid Economic Crisis
April 22, 2020 As economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic swept the country in March, the U.S. information technology sector still added thousands of jobs. Why? Because technology is playing a vital role now – and will continue to be crucial – as our nation copes with the current economic crisis. Listen as Charles Eaton, CEO of Creating IT Futures and CompTIA Tech Career Academy, interprets these hopeful signs during these trying times.