Brandon Rodriguez

Brandon Rodriguez graduated from Per Scholas Phoenix’s End User Desktop Support course this February. Before Per Scholas, Brandon had worked as a bartender for several years and had earned an associates degree from community college. However, he was unsure of what he ultimately wanted to do with his future.

During the Covid pandemic, Brandon found himself with a lot of free time, and taught himself how to build a computer. This was Brandon’s first foray into tech and he loved it. Brandon knew he wanted to try to pursue a career in tech, but he had no idea how to enter into the field. “I knew I wanted to be in tech but I didn’t know where to start,” Brandon recalled. “Luckily, Per Scholas fell right into my lap at just the right time!”

Brandon found Per Scholas while searching for ways to get started in the tech field. At first, he thought the program was a scam because it seemed too good to be true. However, he applied, and was soon accepted into the program.

The class was tough because it was very demanding and time-consuming, but Brandon loved every part of it, especially his instructors. “[Per Scholas] was an amazing experience. My teachers were the best! They were there if we had any questions and made sure no one fell behind. On the days where it felt like a real struggle, they were the best at getting us motivated and helping us remember what we were doing Per Scholas for and why we wanted to get into tech to better our lives.”

On one of the professional development-focused days of the course, a hiring manager from Creative Testing Solutions (CTS) came in as a guest speaker to talk to the class about working in tech. Brandon made a great impression and, on the day he graduated, CTS called him to interview him for a position. 

Brandon got the job and has been working at CTS ever since at their IT Service Desk. He is currently studying to earn more certifications, and hopes to keep learning as much information as he can and exploring what avenue of tech he would like to pursue further.

“Per Scholas puts you into the mindset of being able to learn and wanting to learn,” Brandon said. “I am trying to take advantage of that and learn as much as I can. You have to be really dedicated to get through Per Scholas, have some sort of determination and drive. Anyone that comes through Per Scholas already has a leg up because they know what it is to work hard and succeed through a difficult task.”