IT Career

Success Story Of Our Veteran

Success Story: Multiple Offers In IT For This Veteran!

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Choice, not chance, determines your destiny.

– Aristotle

The same quote holds true in Justin’s success story of transitioning from the military into an IT Career. After earning a Bachelor’s Degree in Philosophy, Justin Gilley felt a pull to serve in the United States Military. He enlisted in the Army and served for four years before returning to his hometown. There he took a brief spin in retail before feeling the call to serve again. This time he chose to commit an additional two years to the United States Air Force.

Justin’s service included deployment to Afghanistan and widely ranging roles from telecom to security and law enforcement. The one constant was his adapting to meet the needs of varying systems, situations, and problems.  

As he transitioned out of the service, he faced the real challenge of parlaying his unique mix of education and experience into a viable, meaningful career. His research brought him to a coding Bootcamp, and he graduated from the program just as the shock of the pandemic took hold and froze the job market.

His appetite for technology whetted, but only a few job opportunities were available, he decided to pursue an apprenticeship. Justin landed a spot in TLG Learning’s Network Development Engineer Pre-Apprenticeship beginning in late August. By November, he had earned industry-standard certifications in networking, Linux, and AWS. He also learned Python: developing a functional application from scratch.

After completing the Network Development Engineer Pre-Apprenticeship program with TLG Learning he spent the following weeks interviewing, which ultimately led to him having to choose from multiple offers! As 2021 rang in, Justin was already well into his new position with Austin-based Simpler Trading. His choices led him to where he is now: relishing a career centered on logic, problem-solving, and service.
Now, this is a success story that truly inspires us all.

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Navy Submarine Radioman Submerges into the World of IT and Lands Himself at Amazon

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When Randall was growing up, his mom cared for him and his sisters by opening an in-home childcare center. Early on he was put to work as the kid who figured out problems and fixed them: applications, computers, connectivity—you name it! He had technical aptitude, but he also had a creative streak: studying Theater Arts in college and winning poetry slams.

This seems like an unlikely foundation for a future Navy Submarine Radioman, but that is where he launched his early career. He thrived getting to approach challenges with both logic and creativity. Five years later, he had been stationed in the Pacific Northwest, married, and with two young boys.

The timing felt right to transition out. Especially after seeing one of his buddies, Joram Howard, successfully transition into a demanding one-year tech apprenticeship with Amazon. Randall sought out Apprenti and TLG’s IT Pre-Apprenticeship—and he was accepted into the Network Development Engineer Pre-Apprenticeship.

Bringing the same rational and creative thinking he used in the service, Randall sailed through the material. Shortly after graduating, he was right on course with an interview scheduled for one of Amazon’s apprenticeships. However, these plans along with countless others were waylaid by the global pandemic and his interview was put on hold.

Undeterred, Randall used the time to keep practicing what he learned while spending time with his family. Between studies he played and cared for his young sons, recovering time missed from extended undersea deployments.

When Amazon called to reschedule his interview months later, he was happily surprised. He was also ready! He demonstrated to the team what he had learned from his Pre-Apprenticeship—and they offered him the role.  

Randall is back on course and his career trajectory is better than ever! In October he started his paid apprenticeship via Apprenti at Amazon as a Software Development Engineer. TLG Learning is the training provider for his Amazon cohort, so we are delighted to see Randall’s wit and thinking back in our classes while he prepares for his on-the-job-training.

While the pandemic marches on, our veterans are still serving and then transitioning out into this world. We are grateful to help Apprenti and employer partners (especially Amazon) continue to meet them and help them develop and wield all their talents.

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Using Adaptability & Grit from her Army Days, Shirley Becomes a Microsoft Security Analyst During a Pandemic

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When we interviewed Shirley Wu for TLG’s Network Development Engineer Pre-Apprenticeship program, we asked her what skills she would use to help her succeed.  She said 8 years in the Army means grit, adaptability, and an attitude of working at something until a solution is found. We had no idea how much of this she would end up showing us.

It so happened that the Pre-Apprentice cohort she joined was destined to be put through the wringer.  They started class on the same day the United States received news of its first Covid-19 case, not far from where their class sat. By early February, she and her classmates had Network+ certification under their belts, but they had to move classrooms to make way for the Vice President’s Coronavirus Task Force.

By late March, they were finishing Linux+, but this time they were bringing their studies home while the state (and the world) headed indoors. In Shirley’s case, this meant returning home to study with her toddler literally underfoot as the daycare facilities became exclusive to essential workers. She adapted. Toddler underfoot or on her lap, she used what she learned in her class to write her capstone project in Python.

As she graduated in a remote ceremony at the end of April, Shirley was already midway through interviewing with top-shelf tech employers. One of those interviews was with a security team at Microsoft. Today, she is employed as a Security Analyst on a Microsoft team that helps keep us safe.

Shirley and her cohort have already demonstrated that they could overcome disruptions, ambiguity, and complications, and still deliver excellence. Just a small indication of the great things ahead of them in their new careers. We can’t wait to watch!

Start Career in IT

How Can I Start My Career in IT? – Apprenti Orientation

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In August, Apprenti & TLG Learning partnered up to host an orientation about how you can start your career in IT.  Watch the entire video here or jump to different areas that you’re interested in. We’ve listed out key topics of interest for you below to pick and choose from. Use the time noted at the end of each topic header and jump to it in the video.  

  • Tech Workforce Shortage Happening Nationally (00:15) 
    • For Washington, there are over 8,000 skilled tech job openings 
    • Apprenti will place 600 tech apprentices in the next 4 years 
    • Apprenti is currently operating in 14 markets nationwide
     
  • IT Industry Characteristics & Challenges – Soft Skills that Apprenti Focuses On  (2:45) 
    • Intellectiual Curiosity 
    • Grit 
    • Collaboration 
  • What is a Registered Apprenticeship (6:14) 
  • Why Apprenti? (8:58) 
    • Relationship with employer partners and training providers 
    • Technical training & on-the-job-training  
    • Apprenti provides a proven reliable pipeline for underrepresented groups such as minorities, women, and veterans to gain training, certification, and placement within the talent-hungry tech industry 
  • Current Apprenticeship Occupations (10:44) 
  • The Apprenti Selection Process (12:40) 

  • TLG Learning is a Training Partner for Apprenti (24:04) 
    • TLG Pre-apprenticeship for Apprenti 
  • VA Educational Entitlements (38:05) 
  • VA Program Support for Apprenticeships (40:53) 

If you’re interested in learning more, these links may help:

Timothy Cowan Student Success Story

Smooth Soaring from Air Force Avionics into Kroger’s Commerce

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Ohio native Timothy Cowan joined the United States Air Force shortly after high school.  The Air Force leveraged his sharp mind and knack for systems and troubleshooting by training him in avionic maintenance. He was assigned to Joint Base Lewis McChord (JBLM) and he had the good fortune of his wife accompanying him to Washington state. He ensured planes stayed safe in the air, defending our country for four years.

As his service began to wind down, Timothy reflected on what he loved most about serving in the Air Force—working with technology as part of a team. While he loved these aspects of serving, he and his wife longed for their home in Ohio. He looked for a program that would help him get into tech and hopefully, do it from Ohio.

He found that Apprenti could help him land a tech apprenticeship. He could transition into Apprenti from JBLM because it was based in Washington, better yet, it had spun off into more than a dozen other states including Ohio. Timothy’s Apprenti score, his location, and the timing were perfect for him to move into TLG’s IT Pre-Apprenticeship while transitioning out of the Air Force. He started the Network Development Engineer cohort in Camp Murray, WA in September of 2019. By February, he and his wife were driving back to Ohio and resettling. 

While the pandemic took hold and the country began shutting down, Timothy’s completion of the Network Development Engineer program positioned him to interview with Apprenti in Ohio. He interviewed for a Software Development Engineer apprenticeship with Kroger and by May he started training in coding.   

This August, Timothy started his on-the-job training with Kroger! Now, Timothy is on a team of software engineers using their sharp minds to develop features and optimize Kroger’s mobile shopping tools. As with his time of keeping planes in the sky through avionics, he’s now helping to keep commerce flowing with applications and tools.

Thanks to Apprenti and their Ohio franchise, employers like Kroger have been able to nab talent like Timothy and put them in hard-to-fill software engineering roles.  Timothy’s soldier to software engineer transition took less than a year, despite interruptions and the complications of the global pandemic. 

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Army Pilot Makes His Way Into The Amazon Cloud

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As a child, Luke Thompson competed as a gymnast.  The early discipline and physical fitness paid off when he enlisted in the Army.  He set his sights on Special Forces and was selected for training. 

As expected, his personal life grew alongside his career and he met and married his wife.  While he was getting good news about making the cut for Special Forces training, his wife was getting the good news about expecting their first child.  

Family on his mind, he set aside his Green Beret aspirations and opted for flight school. He served the remainder of his seven years of service as an Aviation Officer flying scout helicopters. 

As their family expanded with a second child, the civilian-life pull became irresistible. Luke hung up his rotors and settled with his family in sleepy central Oregon. Though the location was idyllic, it presented a problem: what to do for a career?  He attended school full time after leaving the military, trying to find his calling again.

He studied everything from Fire Science to emergency medicine and pre-med Biology. Since he always loved technology and figuring out how things worked, Apprenti caught his eye when they were mentioned in Army Times.

He had a feeling he could make his way in tech, so he started the assessment and application process. By January of 2020, he was in Camp Murray, WA beginning his three months of training as a TLG IT Pre-Apprentice in the Network Development Engineer program. 

A month into Pre-Apprenticeship, the global pandemic hit with cascading effects on in-classroom training. For Luke, it meant quickly rejoining his family in Oregon and endeavoring to complete the training online from his spare bedroom.  This mighty veteran thought nothing of it. 

Luke graduated from Pre-Apprenticeship in April, but not before landing a coveted Software Design Engineer Military Apprenticeship with Amazon Web Services (AWS). Thanks to the offer from AWS, Luke and his family relocated and resettled in Washington. Here he continues his remote training and will soon move into his Software Engineering role at full stride.

Apprenti and Amazon’s AWS Military Apprenticeship shrewdly opens doors and creates pathways for talent and grit like Luke’s to come solve the challenges of the tech sector. Through this, Luke has found his calling again. 

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“There’s no finish line in a Tech career”

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Kushal traveled from Nepal to East Texas to study and earn a B.A. in Journalism, after which he got enlisted in the United States Army. They assigned him to logistics, stationed him in Alaska, where this braveheart served for the next 4 years.

Kushal transitioned out of the service at JBLM in May of 2019. Transitioning in such close proximity to Seattle’s thriving tech sector, he realized a career in systems and software was attainable. In September 2019 he was accepted into TLG Learning’s IT Pre-Apprenticeship where he went from zero-to-sixty on Network Design Engineering fundamentals including Linux, Networking, AWS Cloud Practitioner and Python Scripting. By February he landed a contract working in one of Amazon’s Data Centers and by March he landed one of Amazon’s coveted Software Development Engineering Apprenticeships. This time he is going from zero-to-sixty on Data Structures, Algorithms, Java, and JavaScript.
Here’s what he has to share about his meteoric pace:

Why did you select TLG’s IT Pre-Apprentice program?

I came across TLG’s IT Pre-Apprentice program during a career fair session at JBLM. I found the program straight forward and had a very high job placement rate in the state. Besides, one of my friends who is also a military veteran had successfully transitioned into the civilian workforce through this program.

What has been the outcome (thus far)?

I’m currently a Software Development Engineer Apprentice with AWS. It has been a complete honor to work with talented AWS apprentices and learn new applications and language every day.

What advice would you offer anyone considering this track?

Tech is a great career and its constantly evolving. I will advise anyone to start from the basics and start learning because there is no finish line in this career. We all are in the same boat.

If you’re looking to transition into a career in IT, schedule a call with our team or click here to know more about our IT-Pre Apprenticeship Program!

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Four Pillars Of An IT Career

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“Because I get a lot of questions about how certifications fit into a person’s IT career path, I’d like to take some time to discuss the value of certifications, followed by which certifications might carry the most value for your individual situation.”

This applies whether you are new to IT, or if you have years of experience and or education in IT, and it applies whether your dream IT job is to work for a Fortune 100 or a small municipality. 

For a recruiter or hiring manager, there are 4 “pillars” which will hold up, or support your case to be hired for an IT position: 

  • Education/Training 
  • Experience 
  • Certification  
  • Soft Skills 

We used to call it a 3 legged stool – but then soft skills became more and more important, and now it may arguably be the most impactful of the 4 pillars. That’s because it encompasses such a broad range of skills –  

  • leadership skills 
  • people skills 
  • social skills 
  • communication skills 
  • personality traits 
  • attitudes 
  • social intelligence 
  • emotional intelligence quotient 
  • their competence with at least one recognized certification (more on that in the next blog). 

    One of the reasons I know that veterans can do extremely well in IT careers is that over the years, I’ve noticed that veterans are highly likely to score exceptionally well on soft skills (while there are always exceptions,  most veterans have these skills to a high degree, but it may take work to know how to highlight and translate them for a civilian employer). 

While the dream candidate for a position would have all 4 pillars covered equally, that doesn’t happen very often in the real world. Everyone will be stronger in at least one area and weak in another. But it is possible to make up for what you’re lacking in one area, by bolstering and scoring highly in other areas. Certifications can be an important way to compensate for a lack of specific job experience or education. For example, someone very new to IT, who lacks experience, can compensate by articulating their soft skills and having an industry-recognized certification to demonstrate the equivalent experience or education. 

In the last few years, when unemployment was low, especially in the IT sector, IT certifications were still important, but more for professionals seeking promotions, and employees receiving financial incentives for obtaining professional certifications. But with the recent spike in unemployment, even in the IT sector, technical certifications can be a significant factor in making hiring decisions. For a job-seeker, the significance of a certification isn’t to land the job for you – it’s to get you noticed enough to get you to the interview level 

I can be prone to ramble a bit. Luckily for both of us – we have some brilliant marketing people (thank you Kads!) who are great at telling me to cut it off and save it for another day. So I’ll chat about the specific certifications that could have the biggest impact in your specific job search in the next blog!  

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