Are you unemployed or under-employed? Have you been laid off or received a notice of lay-off? If so, you might qualify for a grant that can really help you get trained, certified and placed in your new job. There is no cost to you. Let’s see if you qualify!
With the amount of computer networks doubling every 5 years, the job demand for Information Technology employees continues to soar for this high paid career. If you qualify you can use the WIOA grant to get the certifications the employers we work with are looking for|: CompTIA, Microsoft, Cisco, Azure and more
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, employment of information security analysts is projected to grow 32 percent from 2022 to 2032, which is much greater than average. Cyberseek.org’s supply and demand heat map shows over 5500,000 job openings across the United States. Some markets are stronger than others. The Tampa/Clearwater/St. Petersburg job market pays well, because it has over 7,000 job opening and the supply of qualified workers is very small. The cyber-crime epidemic is expected to triple the number of job openings over the next 5 years. Employers desperately need employees who are certified in Security+, CISSP, Certified Security Analyst (CySA), and/or Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH).
If you have prior management experience, one of the most high demand job opportunities is in project management. In the Tampa/St. Petersburg job market the need is especially strong for project managers and pays quite well. The Project Management Professional (PMP) is the most sought after certification for this field. Forbes magazine consistently ranks this certification in the top 5 each year. Other certifications in this field include ITIL, Agile Master, and Scrum Master
Responsible executive secretaries perform a variety of administrative jobs and clerical tasks. Duties include providing help to managers and employees, assisting in daily office needs and managing the company’s general administrative duties. The more qualified executive secretaries can make a surprisingly good income if they have the necessary requirements. Certifications like Microsoft Office Specialist (MOS) can really help to move up in this profession.
Instead of having us talk about ourselves, why don’t we see what our clients have to say.
It is called the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA). it is a jobs program. WIOA provides no cost training grants to aid people get trained, certified and placed in high demand careers such as IT, cyber-security, business intelligence, project management and more. The idea is that there are professions in which there are not enough qualified people and there are declining careers in which there are too many people. The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) tries to fix this issue by providing no cost funding for job training in high demand fields to those who qualify for this grant. This training is intended to make your skills marketable so you can get a job and get back into the workforce. This is a grant, not a loan. If you qualify, everything is covered, even the exam. The amounts vary by county but can be as high as $10,000 in some areas.
This is a jobs program so you must select something where there is a high likelihood of employment. Each county has a regionally targeted occupations list (RTOL) to choose from. They want to make sure you select an occupation that is in high demand. For each authorized career, there will be authorized training programs to choose from.
The 3 most common categories are: Dislocated Worker, Adult Low Income and Youth (18 -25). If you were laid off (or your position was eliminated or you were let go because of a reduction in force) from your last job, terminated, received a notice of layoff or are a military spouse you could qualify as a Dislocated worker. If you are on Food Stamps or government assistance, or have low income based on what you have earned the last six months and number of people in your family, then you could qualify under Adult Low Income. For youths age 18-24, you might qualify if you are not going to school. You must also be found to be “suitable.” This is not an automatic approval. The process is perplexing so it is best to discuss this with us beforehand to see if you qualify.
You need to select a program that can be finished in a short period of time that will increase your marketability enough to help get you placed. We look at the best ways to use your experience to add a certification that will make you attractive to recruiters and easier to place. Some career choices are ideal for this: cyber-security, information technology, project management, business analyst, human resources, executive secretaries and administrative assistants etc.
There is no cost to you if you qualify. Nothing to pay or any personal expenses. This is a grant, not a loan. Even the exam(s) are paid for. So what is the catch? We will be working with a remarkably bureaucratic government agency. The steps are overly complicated. A number of schools are averse to work with WIOA if they can avoid it. I strongly recommend you consult with an expert.
Yes! The whole purpose of this grant is to help you get back in the workforce. We have partnered with a staffing firm that has dedicated a person to work at our location exclusively with our clients. She assists with your resume, cover letter, LinkedIn profile, interview preparation and most importantly, getting your resume in front of hiring managers. We work with over 3,000 employers in Central Florida who use us for their training needs. Many of them recruit from us so we get many job leads that are not accessible to the general public. Over half the jobs we have helped place people in are not even advertised.