BRIDGE Blog

Amy went to visit the New Horizons Computer Learning Center on October 9^th and had the opportunity to meet with Athena Aguiar about exciting training opportunities offered right here in Providence, RI

As I pulled into the parking lot of New Horizons in Providence I saw what appeared to be old factory buildings.  Walking toward the buildings I could see it had an old world charm oozing with history, as I got closer I saw it looked clean and sleek as if the old building had been given a new life.  Since October 2008, this building is the location of New Horizons Computer Learning Center.  New Horizons is a part of the NH Northeast family of centers, they offer training in Microsoft, Security, CompTIA, Cisco, Citrix and more.

I was greeted by Athena Aguiar, New Horizons Educational Advisor, who gave me a tour of the state of the art facility and explained to me the benefits of training at New Horizons.  Are you unemployed or under-employed?  Through their Career Training program students who qualify can receive up to $5,500 for training in any of New Horizons’ approved programs through the Workforce Investment Act from the Department of Labor & Training.  Training is geared towards real-world experience and certification in each field.

After training is complete, they also offer job placement assistance with their onsite career counselor.  Athena is there to take you through the process from beginning to end.  If you have questions about the program, including the free training, or you’re interested in enrolling please contact Athena at 401-654-5252, ext.3915 or at Athena.Aguiar@nhrhodeisland.com for more information.

Do you have a company in need of training?  New Horizons also offers customized training for companies and will customize a solution to help you meet your specific goals.  Many companies can’t afford to have employees out of the office, or feel like standard courses don’t meet company needs.  They can come to your location or can schedule private courses at one of their NH training center locations.  Here are some benefits of Onsite or Private Training:

• Customized or standard training
• Learn with real-world, mission-specific examples
• Maintain productivity with flexible scheduling
• Lower training costs
• Train all employees or departments at one time
• Eliminate travel expenses

Looking for college credit?  Baker University (http://www.bakeru.edu/index.php) and New Horizons Computer Learning Centers have developed a unique partnership that allows you to earn college credit for your New Horizons computer courses.  Below are some of the benefits of this program:

• Earn college credit while you train
• Apply New Horizons’ credits to a degree
• Use tuition reimbursement funds you have earned
• Get training that will help you advance your present career
• Prepare for new career possibilities

Please contact Chris Pereira or 401-654-5252 ext. 3914 or CPereira@nhrhodeisland.com for more information regarding training for your company.

New Horizons understands how critical it is for individuals in IT roles to be proficiently trained and skilled to support business goals and objectives.  They offer a mentored learning environment, which merges multiple learning styles to create an effective and efficient learning process.  This is accomplished by providing students with simultaneous access to information delivered via audio and video, a simulated production environment, and a mentor to guide them through the process and provide one-on-one support. Students control the content covered and the pace at which they learn so that they can focus on the specific skills they need to achieve their goals.  You can also use your Microsoft Software Assurance Vouchers and Cisco Learning Credits at New Horizons of Providence.

Check out the New Horizons Website here www.nhrhodeisland.com. 

Surprise, surprise. Giving away food, drinks, and a mini-laptop was incentive enough to bring over 100 people out to our Young IT Professionals Happy Hour on April 16^th.  We were pleased to see how many people stayed to socialize long after we did the drawing for the laptop and the McFadden’s gift certificates.  The opportunity to meet other young people in the IT industry was clearly as strong a pull as the invitation of free food and drinks.  

One of the main goals of our Happy Hour was to address part of the RI Tech Community (recent graduates and new members of the workforce) that rarely get out to networking events.  Networking events can be intimidating, especially for young professionals.  With that in mind, we were particularly thrilled to see all the new faces: a few people who are regulars at ProvGeeks and TechCollective events all mentioned how refreshing it was to come to an event where they hardly knew anyone. I kept walking up to groups of people and asking how they’d heard about the event. One of the most common ways was through RINexus, which is clearly a site that the RI IT community admires and follows.

Regardless of where our attendees heard about the event, it was great to see that the turnout included a variety of companies and professionals all getting together to enjoy Happy Hour (or three hours) with us.  We were pleased to meet so many great new people at the event and we engaged in some really wonderful conversations throughout the evening.  We also had a chance to catch up with some young IT professionals we had successfully placed in companies throughout Rhode Island, along with people we have known for the past few years who were nice enough to come out and support our efforts.  The laidback atmosphere at McFadden’s seemed to be a great space for mingling and we noticed there were many people who didn’t know each other and had a chance to make connections.   

Thank you to everyone who participated in our online survey and congratulations to our winners of the night Barsha, Aura, and Chris!  We are looking forward to sharing our survey results with you very soon!

 Overall, our happy hour proved there is an audience for these types of events.  We’d like to help build the community and provide younger IT professionals with networking opportunities. People kept asking if we were going to have another event. The reality is that holding regular events like our Happy Hour is unsustainable – we can’t give away a laptop every month, but everyone had a great time and we are looking forward to hosting more events in the future to get IT professionals together.  Thank you to everyone for making our event a success and keep an eye out for our next events!  Until then, don’t be shy – drop us an email and let us know what you think. 

New Years has come and gone and now that we are in the early stages of March have you been able to keep up those goals that you vowed to accomplish on that cold night two months ago?  Maybe you want to save more money or lose those extra few pounds from the holidays, whatever it is it’s not too late to get yourself back on track and achieve your goals in 2009.  

I’m sure you’re sick and tired of hearing about all of the bad news out there in regards to the economy.  Regardless of whether you are happily working or looking for your next opportunity, it’s a smart idea to set up career goals because the first step to getting what you want is knowing what you want.  Maybe you already set career goals for New Years, are you still making a conscious effort to keep on track with those or have you changed your mind and want something completely different now? 

First, start by asking yourself “What do I really want?”  A promotion?  A new, exciting opportunity?  Just something to pay the bills and get back in the job market?  Your goal can be as specific or general as you see fit.  Maybe you want to learn some new skills on the job or get that certification you’ve been thinking might set you apart from other job seekers.  Whatever it may be, once you have made your decision you can follow through by making a plan for how you will achieve your goal. 

Before you make your action plan, don’t forget to do your research.  If your goal involves salary, check out recent salary surveys for the year of 2009 to see where you fall in comparison to other professionals in your field (see the links in this month’s BRIDGE newsletter for more salary information).  Finding out how you compare to your peers can also help you focus your goals.  If your goal is to advance in your career part of your action plan could be to take some classes to sharpen your skills or to attend local networking events to scope out the local business scene.  Research local class schedules or check out the latest publications on the skill you’re interested in developing.  You can also find event calendars to see what’s going on in the area for networking, volunteering, and community events.  Think about different ways you can make yourself stand out so employers know that you will be an asset to their company. 

If you take the time to sit down and map out how you can achieve your goal it will make it less daunting.  This will give you something tangible so you can see your goals in action.  Remember you don’t have to change everything in your life at once, in fact that is the best way to not achieve your goals, it’s too overwhelming.  Writing it down will make it harder to ignore, you can even post it someplace you see every day like on the fridge.   If you are afraid that posting it will only bring to your attention that you are falling short of expectations, maybe you’ve set your expectations unrealistically high.  Take the time to reassess every so often to make sure it is still something you really want and brainstorm new ways to reach your destination. 

The final part of achieving your goals is putting your action plan into ACTION!  Once you have set your goal and have some ideas written down for how you can achieve them, go out and do it!  You can start small, ask a friend to attend a local networking event with you or get a few people together and practice interviewing with mock interviews (remember Jon’s Interviewing Tips blog last month?)  Making it fun will help make it more effective because it will be something that you actually want to do.  Don’t be afraid to ask for help when it comes to updating your resume or writing a cover letter.  Check in with a BRIDGE recruiter to see what kind of opportunities are available and if they have any tips for what you can do to get where you want to go.  Remember to stay in touch because if there isn’t anything available at the time something is bound to come in.   

If you’ve gone off track from your New Years Resolutions, just remember you still have 10 months to make it happen.  By establishing realistic goals, making a plan, and setting it in motion you can make 2009 a happy, healthy, and successful year.  Good luck!   

Amy McDermott

Over the last several years, there has been a dramatic increase in the need for Project Managers. Large and small organizations are increasing their use of Project Managers for IT initiatives. Along with the increase in positions, we have seen the number of job requirements for Project Managers increase steadily. In the past, many clients expressed only a preference for certifications. Now, it seems, the majority of job descriptions for Project Managers require that candidates be a Project Management Professional (PMP). This trend has us thinking about the value of getting certified versus the potential danger of not.

To that end, BRIDGE would like to share information about the PMP certification: where to get it, required time, costs associated, and potential benefits. Read on:

The Project Management Institute, which administers the PMP Certification, has designed the process to ensure only serious project managers are eligible by requiring a minimum of 3 years of project management experience (more if you don’t hold a bachelors degree). During your three years they require 4,500 hours spent leading and directing project tasks. There is also a four hour computer-based exam. The exam costs $550 ($405 for PMI members) and covers material from the Project Manager Professional Examination Specification. The 200 multiple choice questions cover content from six domains including; initiation, planning, executing, monitoring and controlling, closing, and professional and social responsibility. Once you decide to get certified it can take from one month to one year to get through the application and testing.

There are many reasons why you might decide to get certified; it could be a personal goal, you want to distinguish yourself from others, you want get a promotion or a better job, or you think it might be required for your next job. This last reason might be worth considering given that many companies are moving from preferring to requiring PMP certification.

Related Events:
On Thursday, January 8th, BRIDGE Technical Solutions will be sponsoring the Ocean State PMI dinner meeting at the Marriott Hotel in Providence, RI. The topic will be “Case Study: How Project Management Guided Harvard Pilgrim from Near Collapse to #1” presented by Lisa DiTullio of EPMO Advisory Services of Cohasset, MA.

Check out our new web page exclusively for Project Managers. We have collected information on PM certification, training opportunities, and current news which we hope will be useful. We also provide links to local project manager professional organizations. If notice something missing from our page please let us know.

So what do you think? Is PMP certification worth the cost? We appreciate your insight.
Thanks, Joe Devine