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<\/a>The organization serves many who have never used a computer, so it started focusing on entry level digital skills about three years ago. This year it partnered with Microsoft to provide advanced training, testing and certifications in Atlanta and San Francisco, as well as Seattle and Tacoma in Washington.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of excitement around particular Microsoft certifications because they\u2019re enhancing employability quicker,\u201d says Elizabeth McCombs, a project manager who works with Francis.<\/p>\n
The pandemic proved a barrier to classes, since many Goodwill participants don\u2019t have access to devices or the internet, McCombs says. But the organization still allows a small number of students to learn at career centers and also is offering mobile labs now, with Goodwill staffers taking devices and training to students\u2019 homes.<\/p>\n
\u201cA graduate degree may be out of reach, but this training Microsoft is offering is really accessible,\u201d says Carlos Galeana, the instructional tech trainer for Seattle Goodwill. Since the courses are online, students can complete them without having to purchase or install software, he says.<\/p>\n
The LinkedIn modules have proven particularly helpful in giving students the fundamentals of digital literacy and showing them how it relates to all jobs and careers, whether they want to be an entrepreneur or a barista, says Eileen Aparis, vice president of job training for Seattle Goodwill. The classes give students the confidence to find jobs in administrative positions, medical fields, data science, manufacturing and more, she says.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis opportunity with Microsoft isn\u2019t just about being in IT or software or an app developer but to be successful in the workplace today,\u201d Aparis says, \u201cand the workplace of the 21st<\/sup> century is all technology.\u201d<\/p>\n The program also is helping people who already have a firm grasp of technology and strong job skills, but want to make sure their career holds a promising future.<\/p>\n Deepa Govindasamy, 36, followed her husband to Germany when his company transferred him there from India in 2018. After getting settled into her new country, Govindasamy wanted to return to her software-testing career, but she felt like something was missing as she looked for jobs. She\u2019d studied civil engineering at university so only had on-the-job training in her chosen profession, and she knew there were things she needed to learn \u2013 especially cloud computing.<\/p>\n \u201cTechnology is growing and evolving so fast, I\u2019ve seen it changing at warp speed, and the cloud is the future,\u201d Govindasamy says. \u201cLearning cloud computing is not a choice \u2014 it\u2019s a must if you want to flourish in the IT industry.\u201d<\/p>\n She heard about the nonprofit ReDI School of Digital Integration at a tech talk she attended late last year, and in February \u2014 just as the pandemic was taking hold in Germany \u2014 she began a Microsoft Learn software development course with classes in Java, Microsoft Azure and more. She earned her first certification in July and then started a data science program that built on it, along with soft-skills classes such as managing a LinkedIn profile for networking.<\/p>\n \u201cThis was how my COVID pandemic lockdown was for me, so busy with so much learning,\u201d she laughs.<\/p>\n Govindasamy will be done with her training soon and plans to volunteer teach at ReDI while looking for a job, giving back to others what she\u2019s learned herself \u2014 just as those who taught her this year had done.<\/p>\n \u201cData science will be additional knowledge I\u2019ll be able to implement,\u201d she says. \u201cIt\u2019ll definitely help me out because software testing has evolved very much, and data is the heart of testing now. And now I can go a lot further in my career with these external certifications.\u201d<\/p>\n ReDI School Chief Executive Officer Anne Kjaer Bathel founded the organization after a chance encounter in 2015 with a refugee in Berlin. The man was from Iraq and had a bachelor\u2019s degree in computer science, but he didn\u2019t have a computer in Germany and was afraid of losing ground in the fast-moving industry.<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019ve heard the story about teaching a man to fish, well what does that story look like in a digital world?\u201d Kjaer Bathel, herself an immigrant from Denmark, recalls pondering. \u201cYou need hardware, internet access, you need tech skills, soft skills, language, and a professional network to help open doors to the industry.\u201d<\/p>\n Kjaer Bathel put up a post on her Facebook page and the next day had a couple dozen responses with people offering equipment, space, expertise and even cake, \u201cbecause food always brings people together.\u201d Now ReDI \u2014 a shortening of \u201cready for digital integration\u201d \u2014 relies on 500 volunteers from the tech and startup industries to provide free training to refugees, immigrants and marginalized Germans.<\/p>\n \u201cMore companies are aware that to survive, they need to attract more tech talent,\u201d Kjaer Bathel says. \u201cAnd we have seen with COVID-19 that the awareness of the need for digital skills isn\u2019t just in the tech industry but is for everything, to work remotely or do school.\u201d<\/p>\n Germany is an accreditation-driven society, so ReDI\u2019s ability to provide free certification programs through Microsoft\u2019s skills initiative \u201cticks those boxes\u201d and assures prospective employers that ReDI graduates will be able to perform, she says.<\/p>\n It\u2019s also motivational for students like Idlir Islamaj.<\/p>\n Islamaj, 34, grew up in Albania and followed his passion for technology to a master\u2019s degree in computer science and a job, but he didn\u2019t see many opportunities to advance or improve \u2014 and he wasn\u2019t making enough money to support a family. So when he read in 2018 that Germany was in need of IT experts, he and his wife decided to make the move.<\/p>\n It wasn\u2019t easy to leave his seaside home and learn a new language near landlocked Munich, but Islamaj quickly found a position as a system administrator. He heard about ReDI last year and signed up for a Java course, having seen the need for it in creating different architecture. That led to an Azure certification program from Microsoft Learn that strengthened Islamaj\u2019s knowledge of the cloud.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/a><\/a>