Veterans Day was established in 1919 by President Woodrow Wilson to lift up those individuals who have donned the uniform and made countless sacrifices to protect and serve our country – and to ensure they receive the recognition, love and respect they so rightly deserve.

On this day, and every day, we can think of no better way to honor our service members than to provide them with a straightforward transition to civilian life with effective, comprehensive tools to make this process smooth and dignified.

Unfortunately, this isn’t always the case.

Over the last 15 years, service members have transitioned to civilian status at an exponential rate. More than 2.4 million Veterans have re-entered civilian life since 2000, and an additional 1 million are expected in the next 5 years. Astonishingly, over 500,000 Veterans are unemployed and 31% of employed Veterans report being underemployed or in low-wage jobs.

Unfortunately, there are countless anecdotes of Veterans who managed the equivalent of small cities during their service, yet when they transitioned to civilian life were only able to find employment in a low-wage, low-skilled job. This highlights a real and growing problem: the underutilization of our service members’ skillsets and the direct – and significant – economic loss it causes for the Veteran community and broader society.

While this reality isn’t due to any malicious intent, it has detrimental consequences nonetheless. Military duties don’t always translate directly, or clearly, into civilian life. The military has purposefully codified each branch, duty, and rank of service to ensure order, hierarchy and efficiency are maintained consistently throughout all divisions of our armed forces. Consequentially, our service members are well-versed in “military speak” but struggle to articulate the skills acquired during their service in a way that conveys to civilian terms.

Similarly, the vast majority of HR specialists are unfamiliar with military functions, practice and language. They struggle to identify how prior military service meets their business needs. It’s easy to understand why an HR specialist without military training may have difficulty knowing what duties an infantryman, for example, would have performed or how those experiences might help their business.

In response to this language challenge there have been significant efforts over the last few years to adopt something called a Military Occupational Specialty (MOS) Translator, a tool designed to translate military skills and experience into civilian terms and covert military positions to civilian occupations. Service members enter their military branches and occupational codes into the Translator, which returns civilian job opportunities that match their military codes.

In theory, this is precisely what we want and what’s needed. Unfortunately, it’s quite rare for an MOS Translator to accurately capture a service member’s skill set, because they are generally built upon an aggregated data model like O*NET, which matches a military position to a particular occupational code. This way of matching a military position to a civilian job can fundamentally ignore the individual skills developed by an individual service member while serving our country – it looks to words and codes instead of people and skills.

Just as no two civilian jobs are performed exactly the same, no two military jobs are exactly the same despite their uniform codification. In the same way that a teacher in a rural school district might develop different skills than one in an urban setting, even though they’re both teachers, service members with the same position title but different assignments will develop different skills.

To prove this point, the SkillSmart team used a translator to search for a job in Ft. Meade, Maryland where a US Army Intelligence Analyst, better known as a 35M, might find a job. The search returned several entry-level security positions and a few code-based cyber positions, but unfortunately no positions were returned that were directly linked to this MOS. However, a quick search of the National Security Agency’s online career site returned open positions for Intelligence Analyst Development Program (IADP) – Entry Level at Ft Meade – which would be much more aligned with the skills developed by the analyst while in the Army.

This translator process often either underassumes the breadth of a service member’s skills or sometimes overassumes their skill development. Either instance can be a disservice to the service member leaving them frustrated and saying “that’s not what I did.”

This begs the question: What do our service members do and which skills do they develop? We think there are no better people to answer that question than the service members themselves.

Instead of trying to match a military code to a job title, it is more important to better understand what skills our individual service members have developed and identify where those skills may qualify them for existing civilian opportunities. To accomplish this, the SkillSmart platform starts with the skills that an employer is looking to hire. We work diligently with employers to break down their positions into the individual skills that comprise each position.

Once the process of working with employers to create a clearly defined list of “desired skills” is complete, these skills are presented to Veterans and prompt them to identify where they may have acquired and demonstrated a skill during their service. This process empowers service members to identify a specific skill and display how they’ve used it. For example, they may recall being responsible for inventory during a 12 month assignment during their time as an E-5 when seeing “inventory management” as a desired skill in a position of interest.

This process allows the HR specialist to identify the positions and skills needed, and allows the service member to provide valuable qualification information about their service.

In addition, this skills-based approach helps identify any skill gaps that service members might have for the opportunity they are seeking. Resources exist for transitioning service members to develop and advance their skills and training, whether during the 180 days allotted under the Transition Assistance Program (TAP), the GI bill or otherwise. At SkillSmart, we arm them with information about the skills employers want and the skills they need to acquire or improve, so they can be most efficient with these resources and reach their potential.

It is both a moral and economic imperative to ensure that the individuals who have served our nation are well served with the right tools to accelerate their transition to civilian life.

We need Veterans to be contributing members of the economic workforce. While national unemployment rates have declined, more than half (53%) of our Veterans enter a period of unemployment upon transitioning to civilian life with an average of almost 6 months without employment. Our economic outlook is brightest when this population is able to meaningful contribute.

Further, the American military is one of the most elite training institutions in the world spending billions of dollars on training its active service members annually. In the same way we think of our post-secondary education system as providing training to benefit the individual and society over a longer period of time, so too must we view the training provided to our elite military. Accordingly, it’s double the economic loss when a well-trained service member is unable to fully put their skills to work.

Lastly, there is a serious and immediate workforce demand that our service members could fill. There are currently six million open IT positions and a growing focus on cybersecurity, which is, arguably, the greatest economic threat to our country.

Veterans are uniquely situated to transfer their skills into these and other open civilian positions or engage in additional skills development to pursue these positions. They are an untapped resource that once tapped will have great benefit to them individually, our economy and our national security.

To all the Veterans, we thank you for your tremendous service. It is now our duty to honor your efforts with more than words, we must give you the tools to be as successful as civilians as you were as soldiers.

Symantec Cyber Career Connection (SC3) and its Commitment to Veteran Hiring

Cybersecurity giant Symantec has added Per Scholas to its Cyber Career Connection (SC3) effort. The Symantec Cyber Career Connection (SC3) is a collaborative effort to address the global workforce gap in cybersecurity that was launched in 2014 at the Clinton Global Initiative America summer meeting. The program provides underserved young adults and military veterans with targeted education, training and certifications that position them to fill in-demand cybersecurity jobs and enter long-term careers.

Through the SC3 cybersecurity program, Per Scholas will provide military veterans its tuition-free training in IT support and cybersecurity. The offering is four months and leads participants to complete the CompTIA A+, Network+, and Security+ certifications along with entry-level employment assistance into cybersecurity with Per Scholas corporate partners. Launching in 2016, this course offering will be available in the National Capital Region.

The National Capital Region (NCR) had more than 23,000 job postings for cybersecurity in 2013, and 2015 projections show this number grew to 33,000, the most nationally. Per Scholas will expedite the transition of our military veterans into this in-demand industry and help address these job needs.

As we launch SkillSmart with our first hospitality client, MGM National Harbor, we wanted to explore the industry further, specifically how its workforce gets its start and the potential for job growth and career advancement.

As part of our Spotlight Series, we talked with Matthew Carlin, President of the Metropolitan Hospitality Group (MHG) to get his take on the opportunities within the broad industry of hospitality. MHG is the parent company to many popular dining establishments in the Washington, DC area including Circa, Open Road, Trio Grill and Merrifield Beer & Wine.

SkillSmart (SS): How did you get your start in the hospitality industry?

Matthew Carlin (MC): One of my first jobs in high school was at a small, local pizzeria and I loved it. I worked there for years during my summer breaks in college and eventually started managing the restaurant.

(SS): What opportunities do you see for young people in the hospitality industry today?

(MC): The hospitality space has really evolved in the last five years. Today, we see a much more educated consumer who is focused on local, sustainable and quality products. The popularity of the cooking and restaurant shows has created a greater awareness about the talent and creativity required to be great in this industry. The opportunities are endless. You can transition your work with much more flexibility today – someone can go from becoming a brew master to running an entire distillery or from becoming a chef or bartender to managing and leading a restaurant.

(SS): What are the biggest misconceptions about the hospitality industry?

(MC): Years ago the industry wasn’t deemed as desirable as it is today and wasn’t viewed as a field that could become a career growth potential. Today, it’s the opposite. The industry is especially desirable in this area (Metro DC) with the explosion of every phase of hospitality from restaurants to brewing to distilleries to vineyards to hotels. With hospitality, there’s really no one, singular career path – it is open ended, with someone entering the industry having more control over their own career path than ever before just by working hard, being reliable and expanding their skill sets.

(SS): What are the biggest challenges to ensuring students are career-ready for the hospitality industry?

(MC): Many of the younger managers we hire are challenged with the skills it takes to lead a team and understanding the financial metrics required to help run a small business. When they enter formal studies for hospitality, they may not get the training for the soft skills needed to manage and lead, or the hard skills such as accounting basics. With management, especially, we rely on a slew of skills to ensure our consumers are getting the best service possible. That includes hospitality, of course, but it also includes knowing how to motivate your team, the financial understanding to make decisions on behalf of the restaurant, bar, etc.

(SS): Do you have any advice for hospitality organizations that are looking to grow or strengthen their workforce?

(MC): Hire the smartest people who have the flexibility to grow and adapt their skill sets, and to understand what skills are needed in which areas or positions. If you know that, you can be more targeted in your recruiting or training.

(SS): What are the skills you look for most?

(MC): Intelligent and purpose-driven people. Of all the successful hires we’ve had, we’ve identified that these two traits translate into someone who can learn on the job, increase their knowledge base and skill set, and who are motivated to want to climb the ladder, so to speak. We’re able to help them advance by outlining a clear plan of where we see their skill sets taking them within our group and talking with them about how they think they can get there. Again, it comes back to flexibility of our workers being able to grow and adapt their skill sets.

(SS): What challenges do you experience in hiring workforce?

(MC): Finding great people is a challenge. The market can seem flooded with people looking for jobs, it can be a challenge to identify which of those people actually have the skills we need.

(SS): What challenges do you experience in retaining your workforce?

(MC): Like every industry, growing and challenging the best and brightest workers in order to keep them engaged.

(SS): What role do you see educators/trainers playing in producing the ideal workforce?

(MC): Ultimately, we all become educators, trainers and coaches at work, teaching and mentoring our staff. The ideal workforce would be made up of great leaders with integrated leadership training between all levels of the workforce. As I mentioned, some of our managers struggle with financial metrics. Educators should play a role in all industries – not just hospitality – by incorporating ways to create a more financially astute student base. Those students, no matter high school or college educated, may very well end up working in hospitality. Having tactical applications of financial metrics could help them immensely. That’s just one example.

(SS): One challenge we hear is that there aren’t career promotion opportunities in hospitality, do you agree?

(MC): The hospitality space is growing exponentially as the world moves faster and people get busier. Great and growing companies will always have career promotion opportunities. Hospitality makes up a large percentage of the American workforce, and as it continues to grow, it will need more managers, leaders, etc. My own story is a great example – I went from working at that little pizza restaurant while on breaks from school and transitioned to managing it.

(SS): Hospitality is experiencing growth in the DC area, why do you think that is?

(MC): DC has always been fertile ground for hospitality growth as the nation’s capital. Not only do we have a growing population, especially with more private sectors coming to the region, we have a steady stream of tourism from year to year. To me, the growth of hospitality took a little longer than expected, but DC is mentioned with the likes of New York and San Francisco. That’s pretty incredible.

As the hospitality industry continues to grow at a rapid pace, so does the potential for economic impact across the US.

Hospitality employs over 15 million people in the US today. It represents almost 10% of all private employment, and is expected to add over 1 million new jobs to the economy in the next few years.

Despite its size and breadth, jobs in the hospitality industry are often overlooked. In our latest white paper we debunk the myths surrounding the fast-growing industry.

Myth 1: Hospitality isn’t a significant contributor to the economy

Fact: With more than 25 sub-sectors of the American hospitality industry – including, tourism, food services and hotels – it is a significant contributor to the economy. Read more >>

Myth 2: Hospitality isn’t for everyone

Fact: Few industries are as diverse in job opportunities as hospitality, in both the positions and the personnel who staff them. The industry successfully attracts, hires and retains a diverse talent pool. Read more >>

Myth 3: Hospitality jobs don’t pay a living wage

Like all industries, salaries in hospitality vary. There are jobs that require less experience and carry a lower salary. There are also jobs within the hospitality industry with annual salaries earning $75,000 or more. Read more >>

Myth 4: Hospitality jobs have no future

The transferrable skills that employees develop in the industry, such as customer service and a variety of other technical skills, can lead to advancement within the industry or jobs in other industries. Further, many managerial positions are available to individuals regardless of their educational background. Read more >>

Learn more about the industry’s economic value and its increasing contributions to employment.

Download the Whitepaper »

Published by McKinsey & Company

In advanced and emerging economies alike, individuals are struggling to find work and build careers that make use of their skills and capabilities. The strains in global labor markets have been worsening for decades, and the challenges have been magnified in the aftermath of the global recession. In many countries, concerns about employment have been exacerbated by long-term trends of stagnant wage growth and automation. But at the same time, there has been a constant refrain from employers about the difficulties of finding talent with the right skills. The growing use of online talent platforms may begin to address these problems—and even to swing the pendulum slightly in favor of workers by empowering them with broader choices, more mobility, and more flexibility. These tools are fundamentally altering the way individuals go about searching for work and the way many employers approach hiring.

The power of a digital platform is not always apparent until it reaches a certain critical mass. Online talent platforms appear to be approaching exactly that sort of tipping point. As these platforms rapidly expand the size of their user networks and the volume of data they can synthesize, the cumulative benefits are growing larger. We believe there is potential for online talent platforms to create real macroeconomic impact in the years ahead—and as these technologies continue to evolve, they may change the world of work in ways that we can only begin to imagine today. This research aims to build a deeper understanding of how these platforms can affect labor markets, although it does not attempt to address the many broader issues affecting employment prospects, including wage stagnation, automation, and aggregate demand.

Download the Report »

As a founding member of the National Capital Region Cyber Security Task Force (NCR Task Force), we’ve partnered with other organizations similarly passionate about solving for data and cyber security. The NCR Task Force is focused on creating viable solutions that will generate a talented pipeline for the 20K+ cyber security jobs in the DC Metro Region, the model for which we’re hoping can be expanded nationwide to accommodate the estimated 200K+ vacancies.

We sat down with Charles Britt, co-chair of the NCR Task Force and Manager, STEM Education Outreach for Northern Virginia Community College to talk about how we can combat the gap in qualified cyber personnel. His valuable insights have been gained over a long-standing career supporting the US Intelligence Community and serving as an education advocate.

In 2014 Charles was awarded the Bruce Oliver Leadership Award by the Fairfax County Government for his work in developing SySTEMic Solutions, a program designed to create a sustainable STEM pipeline in Northern Virginia. This year he was the inaugural recipient of thePublic Sector Innovator of the Year award by the Fairfax County Chamber of Commerce for developing a partnership between the the County’s Department of Neighborhood and Community Services and Office of Public Private Partnerships to bring a VEX robotics program to 10 Intel Computer Clubhouses within high poverty communities across the county.

SkillSmart (SS): Can you explain what the NCR Cyber Security Task Force is and why you felt it necessary to help found it?  

Charles Britt (CB): The NCR Cyber Security Task Force is a group of subject matter experts from workforce development, government, industry, and higher education who have come together to examine the cybersecurity workforce needs in the NCR and propose viable career pathways through skills based training for individuals with little to no direct experience. The task force was borne out of the growing need to provide employers, workforce development organizations, and institutions of higher education with a blueprint for mapping their training to specific industry credentialing and career pathways that lead to employment in cyber security-related positions in the region.

(SS): In your opinion, what’s the great opportunity and greatest threat with cyber security right now? 

(CB): The greatest opportunity is the creation of jobs required to secure networks and systems across all industries. Similarly, the greatest threat is the lack of qualified candidates with the skills and knowledge to work in all of the industries.

(SS): How have you seen the threats and opportunities with cyber security evolve through your career?

(CB): Both threats and opportunities have grown in breadth and depth over the last 10 years. I feel the biggest threat continues to be state-sponsored terrorism against our financial industry. We’ve seen large-scale attacks against Sony, Target, and others in recent years grow even more in scale. Following these high-profile attacks, the opportunities for advancements in cyber security had to evolve, and quickly. Now both public and private industries recognize the importance of cyber security and are actively engaged in thoughtful conversations about the knowledge – and skills – needed to fill existing jobs and create new jobs in the cyber security arena.

(SS): In your experience, what makes students actively seek out and enroll in cybersecurity, what’s the draw?

(CB): Although not totally realistic, the biggest draw by far for students is the idea of becoming a hacker, lurking in the background stealing money and government secrets like the actors portrayed on television. However, once they’re enrolled in a program, they understand the vast scope of cyber security and how they can ethically transition their abilities as a “hacker” for greater purpose and good, and work to outsmart the hackers. That keeps them engaged.

(SS): For those who don’t actively seek out or haven’t considered a career in cyber security, what do you think is the most misunderstood aspect of cyber security that influences people entering the field?

(CB): The idea that you have to be an “expert” in the field. The cyber security and information assurance domain is so large that no one individual is expected to be an expert in every area such as hardware, software, physical security, disaster recovery, etc. Individuals must hone in on the fields they feel most comfortable learning and growing in, understanding each area requires a slightly different set of skills, abilities, certifications, and educational attainment.

(SS): At what age should we start introducing career opportunities to our youth? How do they identify this is something of interest and how can we expose them early enough to create a pipeline of skills training and qualified talent?

(CB): The first step to introducing youth to career opportunities begins with parents and teachers helping children understand their unique talents and interests as early as kindergarten and continuing through the primary grade levels. Then, starting in middle school, we should be talking to students about different career choices by using career profiles to align their interests to one or more of the 16 career clusters.

(SS): What do you find the greatest challenge of engaging the students you interact with? If you could see a change within education that could have the greatest impact on creating more qualified talent, what would it be?  

(CB): The greatest challenge I find with engaging students is getting them to understand the importance of workplace concepts and practices such as time management, critical thinking, and ethics. Increased teacher professional development and decreased reliance on standardized testing would have a tremendous impact on the quality of talent emerging from the public education system.

(SS): From your perspective, what are the biggest challenges to ensuring students are career-ready?  

(CB): The biggest challenge is the lack of opportunities for students to gain real-world experience by working in a professional environment coupled with the lack of teacher exposure in industry workplaces.

(SS): How do you think SkillSmart can play a role in advancing the skills of our workforce to meet the demands of employers?

(CB): SkillSmart can play a pivotal role in helping employers better define their talent needs which in turn helps prospective employees not only determine their suitability for a position but also where and how to gain the additional skills and knowledge to become a fully qualified candidate. This model encourages individuals to seek advanced skills and attain them from the most appropriate provider in their geographical area.

There are tens of millions of middle-skill jobs in the United States today. These jobs are defined as those that require education beyond high school but not necessarily a traditional two or four-year degree. Middle-skill jobs make up the largest segment, roughly 54%, of today’s labor market. However, employers across various industries struggle to find enough skilled workers to fill these vacancies and experience the cost associated with an insufficiently skilled workforce.

Read more about how skills-based hiring can help meet employer demands for qualified talent in our latest white paper.

Download the Whitepaper »

With our corporate office located in Montgomery County, MD, we’ve had the privilege of working with local employers to gain a deeper understanding of their workforce needs and challenges through our partnership with the Montgomery Business Development Corporation (MBDC).

MBDC is an apolitical organization, established by the Montgomery County Council, that provides a business-friendly perspective regarding economic development issues ranging from strategic planning, to retaining and attracting business, and to employer and workforce advocacy. MBDC creates change in the positive economic model of the County by increasing the ability to compete, encouraging culture and innovation, minimizing the cost of doing business, and fostering business growth while improving “quality of place.”

As part of our Partner Spotlight Series, we talked with Ellie Giles, Director of Operations for MBDC to get her take on how the County’s Rx for Employability Program is creating positive change for local and state employers.

SkillSmart (SS): Can you explain the Rx for Employability Program, how it came to be and what it hopes to achieve?

Ellie Giles (EG): The Rx for Employability initiative is a healthcare sector partnership as part ofEARN Maryland, a new state-funded competitive workforce and economic development grant initiative. It’s managed by the leadership of the Maryland Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation (DLLR). The goal of Rx for Employability is to create a sustainable industry-led career pathway model that addresses current and future workforce needs. We’d like Rx for Employability to set an example for other regions throughout the country and can be easily replicated to create a more qualified workforce at large.

(SS): What are the key components of the program?

(EG): There are several. We’ve developed the program to encompass four key components; Rx for Employability is:

• Industry Informed: comprised of industry focus groups, interviews and qualitative data that define distinct career pathways.
• Population Specific: the priority population of the program includes unemployed or underemployed individuals or incumbent workers in need of updated training in Montgomery County.
• Skills-Oriented: the program provides technical and employability skill training and support.
• Data Driven: data of individuals by their outcomes is used to measure success and tailor the program as needed.

Rx for Employability has created targeted career pathways to provide a better educated and more skilled workforce in fast-growing positions. We strive to set our participants up for success in three key positions:

• Pharmacy Technicians: participants can learn the right skills that can lead to a career path in pharmacy.
• Sterile Equipment Processing Technicians: participants can learn the right skills that can lead to a career path in infection disease control in health care facilities.
• Medical Coders: Rx for Employability provides continual bridge training from Medical Coders from ICD 9 to meet the requirements of ICD 10 as mandated by Affordable Care Act (10/1/15) so participants can continue along a career pathway in medical records management.

(SS): How does Rx for Employability receive funding?

(EG): Our funding comes in two forms. Maryland State Department of Labor and Licenses (DLLR) awarded MBDC with a $211,000 EARN grant to be paid over a 2 year period (fiscal years 2015 and 2016). We currently have an application pending for additional funding after 2016. Montgomery County Government provided $192,500 of funding for the Rx for Employability through the Department of Economic Development for fiscal year 2015; continued funding is pending.

(SS): How have Industry employers benefited?

(EG): The program has helped employers clearly establish their talent needs and identify internal career pathways not just for employers but for the industry as well. It’s encouraged the development of industry-specific career skills to ensure reliable employability today and into the future, and has provided recommended strategies for HR structures to improve job application processes and raise personnel awareness for entry level (establishing a community/industry connection).

(SS): How have community/training agencies benefited?

(EG): Through a number of ways, but most importantly Rx for Employability has enhanced support services of community and training agencies. The program has coordinated collaboration between 22 non-profit agencies for candidate outreach and participant support services, helping to identify strengths/challenges within the agencies as they interface with industry. It’s also unified a work-ready pipeline and skills development; we currently have a pending grant (for $100,000) to develop appropriate standards for consistent work-ready programs.

(SS): How have your participants benefited?

(EG): We’ve received a number of metrics that mark the success for participants. A few examples include:

• Increased employment pipeline opportunities for participants through our “Earn while you Learn” process that created unique jobs providing both employment with dignity and apprenticeship training.
• Individualized employability support to 80 potential Pharmacy Technician candidates through a partnership with CVS Health (interviewing, application completion, dressing, communication etc.).
• Successful recruitment for Sterile Processing Technician training for 10 participants through a partnership with Adventist HealthCare.
• Successful outreach for our Medical Coder-Bridge program with 290 participants through a partnership with the Montgomery County Medical Society.

In our first year, we’ve had nearly 400 participants interact with the Rx for Employment Program:

• Pharmacy Technician: 80
• Sterile Processing: 26 (Includes training participants and backfill employees)
• Coder Bridge: 290
• Total: 396

(SS): What do you feel is the greatest challenge facing the Rx for Employability program?

(EG): Coordinating all the wonderful resources in Montgomery County for a strong collaborative effort. It’s our greatest challenge, but it’s also our greatest reward.

(SS): Do you find that skills training is an issue for the employers with which you interact? 

(EG): MBDC works to engage the business community through business retention and business expansion activities. Strong talent and talent development opportunities are frequently mentioned as a reason for locating their business in Montgomery County. The Rx for Employability program has been enthusiastically embraced by the Healthcare industry and we have already expanded this model to include mid-level occupations with a new Nursing-bridge program providing specialty training.

(SS): What advice do you have for other jurisdictions looking to implement a program similar to Rx for Employability?

(EG): Listen to the industry to determine the skills needed for entry into a sector. Working with the industry sectors has not only allowed us to provide comprehensive skills training (technical and work-ready skills), but also provide the training to be progressive by addressing skills for future needs. We’ve been able create a sustainable career pathway.

(SS): What are the biggest challenges to ensuring students are career-ready?

(EG): The Rx for Employment program recruits from the wonderful non-profit community agencies in the County. Currently, we are partnering with 26 different programs to recruit candidates. The work-ready training provided by each non-profit program varies, and we’ve learned that a consistent work-readiness program across all programs is needed. To address this issue, we have applied for and have been granted additional State funding to pilot a work-readiness training program (based on input from employers) that we hope can be disseminated to all agencies and organizations within the County. The program will be competency-based with practical hands-on learning opportunities within a variety of work places.

(SS): How do you think SkillSmart can play a role in advancing the skills of our workforce to meet the demands of employers?

(EG): Making connections between current and needed skills and career opportunities is valuable support for our unemployed and underemployed. According to The Washington Business Journal, the March 2015 unemployment rate in the Washington area is 4.7%. The current opportunities require specialized skills. The SkillSmart technology is a fantastic tool to address the current employment needs by providing graphic progress reports and connections to the right skill training programs.

Learn more about Rx for Employability and how Montgomery County is working to train its regional workforce with the right skills employers need.

SkillSmart is proud to partner with other organizations whose missions are similar to ours in creating a smarter, more competitive workforce.

Our partner Per Scholas is determined to break the cycle of poverty by providing technology education, access, training and job placement services for under/un-employed communities.

As part of our Partner Spotlight Series, we recently talked with Bridgette Gray, Per Scholas’ Managing Director for the National Capital Region, to get a deeper understanding of how they’re achieving their mission.

SkillSmart (SS): Before you joined Per Scholas, you worked with other organizations in similar spaces. Can you tell us what you’ve found to be a key takeaway or learning, what makes Per Scholas different?

Bridgette Gray (BG): The key takeaway is that Per Scholas has a model of training that provides rapid entry and/or re-entry into a high demand field of employment – IT jobs. Most organizations I’ve worked with before have a long process to get to an outcome, but Per Scholas has an 8-week training model and our students gain employment within 90 days post graduation. In fact, almost 90% of our graduates have found employment in the IT field.

SS: What is the greatest challenge to the success of programs like Per Scholas?

BG: Getting corporate investment and scaling the model. Another challenge is candidate recruitment – many of the people who apply have very low literacy rates and can’t get through our assessment. As a result, it’s a struggle to admit the 20 students we’d like to have per cohort. Finally, programs like ours are seen as competition to existing programs and community colleges, which impacts our ability to collaborate.

SS: Do you have any advice for other organizations or jurisdictions that are trying to establish training programs to meet the needs of their populations?

BG: Yes, collaboration and knowledge sharing are crucial.

SS: What do you think are the biggest challenges or opportunities facing the National Capital Region?

BG: There are many.

• HR departments and hiring managers are disconnected from the hard skills needed by their organizations and continue to produce cookie cutter position descriptions without thinking through the hard skills outside of a degree.
• Employers are not invested in training programs to help build out the talent needed.
• There’s no cross pollination of knowledge or information sharing across the entities preparing our workforce.
• Post-secondary institutions are not providing the hard skills needed to provide employers with viable talent pipelines. Workforce development organizations and post-secondary institutions are not playing well in the sandbox.
• There is a literacy challenge among many people that a lot of programs in this area serve. There’s also a huge digital divide, with people having no connection to or knowledge of relevant, successful and viable training opportunities.
• Too many underachieving workforce development programs continue to receive funding, but are not reaching measurable training and placement outcomes, i.e., livable wage careers, high-demand fields, increases in literacy rates, etc. As a result, employers are not able to get the talent they need.
• There’s a lack of collaboration between training programs. For example, we partner withYear Up, a similar organization that focuses on 18-24 year olds IT, providing the first step in training in-demand skills to its students. We provide the second step, which is credentialing and job placement. It’s a great partnership that we’ve yet to see impact our funding, we’ve found that it enhances it.

SS: How do you think SkillSmart can play a role in advancing the skills of our workforce to meet the demands of employers?

BG: I think tools like SkillSmart are what we need to address the many issues we’ve identified above. I think SkillSmart can replace HR hiring tools, such as Taleo, etc. with greater accuracy of identifying the skills candidates have while highlighting where they can improve their skills. In doing so, the workforce will become skilled and qualified, meeting the demands of employers.

To learn more about how we’ll be working with Per Scholas, read the announcement regarding our partnership.