Last week was a huge week for corporate volunteering.

Per Scholas held THREE separate volunteering events at our main site in the Bronx and also in Manhattan. Tuesday June 18th, Barclays hosted an event at their site in mid-town Manhattan, Wednesday June, 19th Moody’s came by our office to help with mock interviews, and Thursday June 20th Interbrand also came by to assist our students with their online presence.

Read more about the Barclays visit below:

Tuesday, June 18th marked the launch of the brand new series of bi-weekly mock interview sessions hosted by our corporate partner, Barclays, during which Per Scholas students are provided with vital interviewing, self-marketing and networking experience. This week, eight students were invited to Barclays’ mid-town location where they were able to experience exactly what a corporate job interview would be like: arriving at an unfamiliar office location, signing into the office building with security and interviewing with multiple individuals for actual IT jobs in the field, such as Desktop Support and Help Desk Support positions. Students were given actual job specifics ahead of time to prepare themselves and were expected to do their research, just as any good interviewee would. Contrary to a traditional job interview, however, Per Scholas students get the added benefit of immediate feedback by the professional mentors volunteering their time to help. Interviewers filled out evaluation forms providing helpful tips for improving the students’ skills in the future — which will aide them in landing the job when the real world opportunity roles around.

Student Laura Harris said of the afternoon: “It was a great experience and I picked up some great tips in terms of how to handle myself during an interview.”

Frank Montes added, “I was a little nervous, similar to what happens in real interviews, and I know I made several mistakes. However, this experience will help me to be better prepared for the future interviews I have to come.”

Fatou Diop also felt similar: “I am very thankful for the experience at Barclays… I learned a lot from it.”

And it’s true. On average, it takes a Per Scholas student three interviews before they land a job (80% of all graduates become employed post training). The more practice our corporate volunteers can offer our students, the greater the chances our students can move that number from a 3 average — to one.

Overall, our first mock interview session was a great first time success! We would like to thank the interviewers, Wayne, Nick, Doug and Golam for taking time out of their work day to assist our students and for their continued support to Per Scholas and its’ mission. With their help, these students were able to sharpen their interviewing skills and left feeling more confident in themselves and their abilities.

If you or your company is interested in volunteering with Per Scholas, please contact Sarah Conte, Corporate Relations & Volunteer Manager, at sconte@perscholas.org.

We are excited to announce the launch of the Software Testing Education Program (STEP) in partnership with Barclays, a five-week pilot course currently in development that will be offered to a select group of 20 Per Scholas alumni (graduates of our 15-week A+/Net+ course) later this summer. The project is in collaboration with several committed partners: Association for Software Testing, DevelopSense, QASymphony, QualiTest, Satisfice, SmartBear, uTest, Virtusa, and Workroom Productions.

The global software testing market is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 21.15 percent over the period 2012 – 2016. In layman’s terms that is… a lot of jobs. The STEP curriculum, written by Barclays, is tailored to prepare students to compete for these entry-level software testing roles that are in high demand. The intensive course will be lab-based, instructor-led training supported by exercises, field studies, industry experts, and exposure to leading edge software testing tools. Students will be selected for the program after successful completion of the core Per Scholas 15-week curriculum and successful achievement of Comp TIA A+ certification.

By the end, Per Scholas participants will have acquired industry leading testing skills and techniques, be given access to real life projects, and participate in field studies to learn alongside working professionals and be given the opportunity to interview for apprenticeships for openings with our corporate partners, like Barclays.

Get Involved. If your company wishes to participate, there are many ways. Companies can provide facilities for Field Studies which will require 4 hours for students to visit a live project and observe software testing being conducted on a real world project. Organizations or individuals may participate in the STEP Mentoring program which pairs graduates with senior test professionals for career guidance and development. Lastly, the goal is to have 20 apprenticeships ready for students to be considered at partner firms with software testing openings. If you have an opportunity to open up to the Per Scholas scholars, there could be no greater contribution. To get involved contact info@perscholas.org to learn more and sign-up.

Click here for the complete program and curriculum.

Barclays and the supporting partners are pioneers. Their work with STEP is empowering Per Scholas to innovate with technology and as a result provide its students enormous opportunities in their life-changing careers. Learn more about the committed partners who helped make this possible:

Barclays is a major global financial services provider engaged in personal banking, credit cards, corporate and investment banking and wealth and investment management. They are contributing training materials, access to testing experts as well as delivering training to STEP. http://group.barclays.com/

Association for Software Testing (AST) is a professional non-profit association that is dedicated to advancing software testing and strives to build a testing community. They are providing graduates of STeP one year free memberships to the AST. http://www.associationforsoftwaretesting.org/

QASymphony creates simple, yet innovative products that manage the testing, tracking and replication of bugs in the software development process. They are providing free software and licenses for the STeP students to learn and practice test management, execution and defect tracking. http://www.qasymphony.com/

Satisfice is owned by James Marcus Bach who is a software tester, author, trainer and consultant. He is a proponent of exploratory testing and the context-driven school of software testing and is credited with developing session-based testing. Satisfice is providing discounted training in James “Rapid Software Testing” methodology. http://www.satisfice.com/

SmartBear offers powerful, affordable and easy to use software development, testing, performance and post deployment monitoring tools. They are providing free software and licenses for the STeP students to learn and practice test automation. http://smartbear.com/

uTest provides “in-the-wild” software testing to companies of all shapes and sizes through a global community of 80,000 professional testers in 190 countries. They are inviting STeP graduates to attend their uTest “Sandbox” program – a real-world testing exercise – where they can earn money for submitting valuable bugs and receive professional feedback on ways to improve their skills. http://www.utest.com/

Workroom Productions is owned by James Lyndsay who has been testing since 1986 and has worked independently since setting up Workroom Productions in 1994. James is contributing his Black Box Testing Machines so students can practice techniques that can be generalized and transferred. http://www.workroom-productions.com/

A special thanks to Keith Klain of Barclays for making this pilot possible. Read what he had to add straight from his blog and another post by QASymphony.

Last Thursday I had the good fortune to spend my evening with some amazing entrepreneurs and talented IT professionals. And it was all women. Women in Tech is trending (it has its own hashtag) and is an increasingly bigger deal in NYC as the tech community continues to swell — which is exciting.

I attended the Coalition for Women in Tech Meetup at Control Group. Per Scholas is a founding member of the coalition, and as cliche as it sounds — I am psyched. Folks join the IT space often because the environments are fast paced and you have a chance to create something. With this Coalition, and all the energy and excitement that exists around supporting Women in Technology, it feels like Per Scholas will have a chance to help shape a small part of the broader agenda to help get more women into the IT field. Keeping true to our roots of helping those who are underserved and who would not get a foot into the IT world without our help will be our angle. I really think there is tremendous support, interest and appetite to make great things happen for the women we serve.

We are excited to be joining brilliant minds and leaders from NY Tech Meetup, Control Group, Girls Develop IT, AT&T, along with other champions like us — Girls Who Code, Hack n’ Jill, TheLi.st, NYTechWomen, Pipeline Fellowship, Plum Alley and Women Innovate Mobile.

More to come as this develops…

About NYTM

Founded in 2004 by meetup.com founder Scott Heiferman and co-founded by Dawn Barber, the NY Tech Meetup has over 30,000 members, representing professionals from all parts of the New York technology community. NYTM centers around its monthly events, where members gather to watch emerging companies demo new ideas, hear leading-edge thinking on technology topics, and build their networks to develop their businesses. NYTM has been integral in the birth of New York’s new Silicon Alley, with nearly every notable new company, including Foursquare and Tumblr, making their debut at a NYTM demo. NYTM is a not-for-profit, community-led organization. Its Executive Director is Jessica Lawrence, President is Nate Westheimer and Chair of the Board is Andrew Rasiej. www.nytm.org.

About Control Group

Control Group helps organizations envision and build their long-term future. Through strategic consulting, user-centered design, and multi-discipline engineering, Control Group enables organizations to translate their brand into more meaningful and profitable connections with their stakeholders across digital and physical touch points. The firm was recently recognized for their interactive wayfinding kiosks for the New York City MTA, Fast Company’s “Most Ambitious In-Store Retail iPad Experience” for their work with Kate Spade, and one of Crain’s Best Places to Work in New York. Control Group’s clients include leaders in Civic, Real Estate Development, Hospitality, Healthcare, Finance, and Retail industries. For more information about Control Group and its services, go to http://www.controlgroup.com.

About Girl Develop It

Girl Develop It is an international organization, certified by the Board of Education, that exists to provide affordable and accessible programs to women who want to learn software development through mentorship and hands-on instruction. For more information about Girl Develop It, go to: http://girldevelopit.com/.

May 1st marked Per Scholas’ 4th Neuberger Berman (NB) field trip which exposed 23 lucky students to a world where corporate IT Managers to VPs shared a glimpse of how their IT environment functioned. NB’s “Celebration with Service” day started off at NB’s midtown Manhattan office by educating the lucky bunch on NB’s technology departments and by having two Per Scholas alumni working at the firm speak with a Q & A session about their time at NB and how it has since exposed and enhanced their IT career and skills. Thereafter our students were given one-on-one time with Managers and VP’s to share their own professional experiences and delve in more deeply into their corporate IT experience.

As the IT world around our students was quickly moving, next was the visit out to NB’s data center in Piscataway, NJ where multimillion dollar daily global transactions happen in real time through a super secure network matrix protecting accounts on and off shore. Per Scholas was greeted by multiple managers and VPs — as well as a Per Scholas alumna. Servon Lewis who was hired full-time after his training at Per Scholas through the company’s competitive internship program. Neuberger Berman created the internship exclusively available to Per Scholas graduates three years ago as part of its growing corporate partnership with Per Scholas. It’s produced numerous success stories, including Servon’s who will be speaking at the June 12 ROI Corporate Dinner.

After students heard from Servon and team, the students were given a rare peek, especially during a trading day, of the company’s 7500 Sq. Ft. data center space. Students learned how the center is powered, walked through a hot swap technical repair, and toured the live server rooms with the very individuals who created the infrastructure. Students were given something they will never forget and exposure that can’t be taught in a classroom. On the way back to the city, the energy of new found motivation and determination to have a successful IT career like the ones witnessed at Neuberger Berman was apparent in every student.

We gratefully thank Marci, Liz, Tony, Michael and Joe from Neuberger Berman for their continued support in helping our students succeed and dream for bigger and better careers in an ever-changing and growing IT industry.

Keith Klain loves talking software testing. Just Google his name to see for yourself. Keith is Head of Barclays Global Test Center, where he oversees some 700 employees. Prompted by CIO of Barclays and Per Scholas Board member Joe Squeri, he sees software testing as the avenue for dozens if not hundreds of Per Scholas graduates to get their start in a technology career.

So, he came on site and talked software testing to two dozen soon-to-graduate students. Here are some key (no nonsense) takeaways:

• Software testing is the biggest growth segment in IT. The jobs are expected to double over the next two years.
• Companies have lots of legacy systems and are increasingly complex. This means job insurance for skilled testers.
• Software testing has had a low barrier to entry, but to be skilled, you need a brain that thinks critically.
• Learn to learn. People will ignore you if you are not relevant. You must self educate — always.
• To be a good tester, be curious. Ask questions, ask “Why?” (a lot). Don’t just execute steps and walk through the motions. Really try to find the problems and ask why something may not work.
• “Culture eats strategy for lunch.”
• You will want to change the world in a new job (everyone thinks this) but you need to realize and recognize that status quo is hard to change. Not impossible, just hard. Manage your expectations.
• Don’t accept mediocrity

There is also a major commitment made by the Association for Software Testers (AST), of which Keith Klain is a board member, to share curriculum to grow the talent and pipeline of workers in this field. Over the next several months we will be exploring curriculum development for Per Scholas students and alumni in software testing as well as creating a job placement track for testers.

We are hugely appreciative of Keith spending time with us and being so passionate and realistic about the possibilities this holds for Per Scholas. This is why Joe Squeri and Barclays are being honored at this year’s ROI Corporate Dinner. When they make a commitment to invest in their community — they mean it.

Last year, at our very first ROI (Reach Opportunity Impact) Dinner, Per Scholas recognized the leadership of JPMorgan Chase, one of our longest-term corporate partners, and Guy Chiarello, the bank’s most recent Chief Information Officer. This year we are proud to honor one of our very newest – Barclays and Joe Squeri, Chief Information Officer of Barclays Corporate & Investment Bank – at the second annual ROI dinner on June 12, 2013.

Per Scholas’ annual ROI dinner celebrates our accomplishments with the corporate partners large and small who play so many key roles creating better futures for our graduates. We are thrilled to recognize the high level of impact that Joe and his colleagues have brought to Per Scholas. In a very short time, Barclays has engaged with Per Scholas in four essential areas – providing major funding, volunteers, employment opportunities and board leadership. The impact has already begun to take shape.

“Joe and Barclays have stepped up to the plate in a big way, contributing major funding and volunteers for our program along with job opportunities for our graduates,” says Plinio Ayala, Per Scholas President and CEO. “They understand effective corporate citizenship and are deeply supportive of our mission to help the New Yorkers most affected by the jobs crisis. They are making an enormous difference.”

“At Barclays, supporting our local communities is core to our culture. Per Scholas has been a great community partner for Barclays, and one with a proven track record of success for the young people in its IT job training and placement program. I am proud for Barclays to serve as a role model for other companies that are just getting to know Per Scholas, and I look forward to introducing more people to its work,” expressed Joe Squeri, Barclays.

To learn more about the Per Scholas ROI dinner and to join us in celebrating Joe Squeri and Barclays on June 12.

A large majority of Per Scholas graduates begin their IT careers through short and long-term contract work. IT staffing agencies and managed service providers such as ASI, Unisys, Harvey Nash, Robert Half, Peak Systems, Insight Global and many more turn to Per Scholas for talent on projects with some of their biggest clients. Insight Global wrote us this week to pass along the praises from one of their Fortune 500 clients.

From the employer to Insight Global:

“I wanted to take some time to recognize your team for the great job they have done during our refresh yesterday and last evening.

HP team of polite and knowledgeable technicians/installers lead by Alton McCarthy (pictured, 2012 graduate) came to our banking center yesterday and replaced our workstations and printers. I was impressed by their expertise and their ability to manage the entire process. Alton and his team were happy to be there to help us through our transition and have patiently explained the process to us. They asked for our input and did not disrupt our end of day activities in any way. Although we feared that we would have some issues with the systems , this morning we came in and everything was set up exactly the way we wanted it.

It is nice to have the opportunity to work with a team of people who are excited about their job and eager to make their customers happy. Alton and his team went above and beyond in their effort to make our experience with HP a positive one.

I am grateful to have been given the opportunity to have this team at my location. I hope their excellent work ethics and dedication will not go unnoticed.”

These compliments warm our hearts. We are very proud of Alton for representing himself and his fellow classmates so well, and we applaud Alton’s Per Scholas instruction team as well for their contributions. It’s strong work ethic expressed by the employer above that results in 80% of our graduates landing jobs following our IT job training.

Interested in hiring a student similar to Alton for your team and projects? Get in touch with our employment services team.

Time Warner Cable has been a loyal and committed employer partner of Per Scholas since 2008. The company has hired 71 Per Scholas graduates and counting over the course. We hope to make 2013 a record breaking year matching our graduates to the company’s hundreds of jobs.

On Wednesday, February 27, Per Scholas will host Time Warner Cable to conduct an all-day open house — and it is open to the public. Time Warner Cable is hiring driving technicians/cable installers to service its Brooklyn region.

Wednesday, February 27, 2013

10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.

Per Scholas 804 East 138th Street, 2nd Floor, Bronx, NY 10465

Please visit the Time Warner Cable website and apply prior to attending the event at http://jobs.timewarnercable.com/search?q=142262. Be sure to bring a hard copy of your resume and the online application confirmation number.

Essential Job Functions

• Perform subscriber installations and routine drop maintenance.
• Perform quality control inspection on contractor and in house installations.
• Troubleshoot subscribers drop from television set to tap to pert and correct all problems.
• Maintain tools and equipment and perform routine inspections on company vehicles.
• General warehouse and minor converter repair duties.
• Complete daily paperwork as necessary.

Job Requirements/Qualifications

Must have a High School Diploma or GED; at least 0-3 months of previous experience; or equivalent combination of education and experience. Must be able to work with various hand tools such as electric drills, hammers, wrenches, screwdrivers, etc. Knowledge of CATV preferred. Must have a valid driver’s license with a clean driving record. Able to prioritize while working in a fast paced environment. Must successfully complete all company required training. Will also be required to work overtime, weekends and late shifts as needed. This position is part of a bargaining unit.

Time Warner Cable provides generous benefits. Health care and retirement benefits are significant portions of the total compensation package at TWC, and we invest more in those benefits than most employers. In addition, we offer tuition reimbursement, adoption assistance, competitive paid-time-off programs, work-life resources, and discounted pricing on TWC residential products and services for employees within our footprint. Our hope is that, by providing our employees with rich and flexible benefits, we can help them take care of the people who matter most – at work and at home.

Time Warner Cable is an Equal Opportunity Employer M/F/V/D We are committed to a drug free workplace

Attitude. The right attitude is a rung on the ladder to success while the wrong attitude can completely derail a career. Without question, more people I know are terminated from their jobs because of poor attitude and not incompetency. In fact as a manager I think incompetency coupled with the right attitude is fixable. Competency coupled with the wrong attitude is not good enough.

A recent article in the Wall Street Journal by Nick Schultz “Hard Unemployment Truths About ‘Soft Skills’” highlights the importance of attitude over hard skills. And at Per Scholas we hear from our many employers that a command of “soft skills” or “life skills” as we call it, is more important to job retention than anything else. That’s why we’re taking a hard look at our life skills curriculum and adjusting accordingly.

Last week I met four near-graduates of the Per Scholas program. Each one of them knocked me over with their authenticity, their empathy, their grace. I didn’t know a thing about how they were doing in class but I knew right then and there that Janea, Vincent, Luis and Mario will land jobs because they have the right attitude and the drive to succeed.

Four current Per Scholas students speak to visitors from Barclays

On May 3, 2012, Per Scholas will mount its first-ever ROI (Reach – Opportunity – Impact) Corporate Dinner. We are very excited that this event will honor Guy Chiarello, Chief Information Officer of JPMorgan Chase and one of the most widely admired corporate IT leaders in the world.

JPMorgan Chase, Guy and his Technology for Social Good team have grown to become deeply committed Per Scholas allies and supporters. Their partnership extends well beyond funding to include internships and employment for graduates, voluntarism by employees and extensive in-kind support (including support for developing this website). The bank is equally committed to other nonprofit IT workforce development organizations, and to the field as a whole. We could not be more pleased by this opportunity to express our gratitude, and to highlight the benefits of partnering with Per Scholas for other supporters, new and old.

Table prices/sponsorships for the evening reception and dinner at 1 Chase Manhattan Plaza range from $15,000 to $50,000. All proceeds will help make possible Per Scholas’ free IT training and other programs serving low-income families and communities. To reserve a sponsorship or for more information, please click here.

Update: The dinner on May 3 was a great success, raising more than $400,000 for Per Scholas’ work.