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Are you unemployed or low-income? Have you been laid off or received a notice of lay-off? If so, you might be eligible for a government grant that can really help you get trained, certified and placed in your new career. There is no cost to you. Let’s see if you qualify!
With the number of computer networks doubling every five years, the job demand for Information Technology workers continues to shoot up 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 faster than average. Cyberseek.org’s supply and demand heat map shows over 5500,000 job openings across the United States. Some markets are hotter than others. The Tampa/Clearwater/St. Petersburg job market pays well, because it has over 7,000 job opening and the number of certified workers is very small. The cyber-crime epidemic is expected to triple the number of job openings over the next five years. Employers badly need workers 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 demand 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 several administrative jobs and clerical tasks. Duties include providing support to managers and employees, assisting in daily business needs and being responsible for the company’s general administrative requirements. The more qualified executive secretaries can make a surprisingly good salary if they have the necessary skills. Certifications like Microsoft Office Specialist (MOS) can really help to move up in this career.
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 help workers get trained, certified and placed in big demand fields such as IT, cyber-security, business intelligence, project management and more. The idea is that there are fields in which there are not enough certified workers and there are declining fields 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 career training in big 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 return to the workforce. This is a grant, not a loan. If you qualify, everything is included, 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 pick something where there is a high expectation of gainingemployment. 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 three most common classes are: Dislocated Worker, Adult Low Income and Youth (18 -25). If you have been 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 get approved as a Dislocated worker. If you are on Food Stamps or government assistance, or have low income based on last 6 month’s earnings and number of people in your family, then you could get approved under Adult Low Income. For youths age 18-24, you might get approved if you are not going to school. You must also be determined to be “suitable.” This is not an entitlement. The process is convoluted so it is best to discuss this with us first to see if you qualify.
You want a plan that can be completed in a short period of time that will raise your marketability enough to help get you placed. We look at the best ways to leverage your work history to add a certification that will make you attractive to employers and easier to get hired. Some career choices are perfect 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 very bureaucratic government agency. The steps are as clear as mud. A number of schools are averse to work with WIOA if they can avoid it. I highly 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 helps with your resume, cover letter, LinkedIn profile, interview preparation and most importantly, getting your information in front of hiring managers. We work with over 3,000 employers in Central Florida who use us for their training requirements. Many of them recruit from us so we get many job leads that are not available to the general public. Over half the jobs we have helped place people in are not even advertised.