Local businesses can access much-needed tech workers at SLO’s first ‘Speed-Recruiting Day’ February 14

Companies can sign up for speed-round interviews with local Coding Bootcamp graduates at ‘Meet the Employers Day’

[San Luis Obispo, February 2019] With the Fullstack Software Developer class now complete, the local ‘Ticket into Tech’ program is hosting a ‘Meet the Employers Day’ on February 14. There’s a particular need for engineers in SLO County, so the recruitment day should be welcome news for local businesses. Tech jobs have increased 20 per cent in the last five years according to California Center for Jobs and the Economy, due in large part to the bustling startup scene and larger tech firms moving into the area like Amazon.

Gaining access to a local, skilled workforce

Graduates of the local ‘Ticket into Tech’ Fullstack Academy Software Engineering program (codingbootcamp.slopartners.org) will be available to interview on February 14th. 27 apprentices have completed pre-apprenticeship and apprenticeship training in person with the top rated coding bootcamp in the country and are looking to be placed with companies for a year of on-the-job training starting at $20/hour for the first 3 months. Graduates are trained as front end, back end, database and mobile app developers.

Gaining insight into their skills and work

In addition to the interviews, graduates will also be demonstrating their final projects to showcase their work and accomplishments. 20 local businesses have already signed up to participate in the speed-round interviews. Several Bay Area companies are also interested in hiring the apprentices remotely and will start interviews during the week of February 18. Over 25 local firms are already part of the tech apprenticeship program.

Accessing a diverse workforce

Women currently make up less than 20 percent of U.S. tech jobs, even though they make up more than half of the U.S. workforce.[1] In order to create greater diversity in the Ticket into Tech class, four women were awarded full scholarships.

The success of the program’s second year means that SLO Partners (creators of the program) is currently ahead of schedule in achieving its goal of creating an additional two thousand head of household jobs in the San Luis Obispo region by 2025. This goal was recently doubled, from one thousand, due to interest from San Francisco-based businesses in hiring apprentices to work remotely from San Luis Obispo. Four graduates from this year’s IT apprenticeship program have already been placed with a company in the Bay Area, working remotely from Atascadero’s coworking space, Bridgework.

Brittany McCrigler, Head of Softec Women in Tech commented on the importance of having a diverse workforce: “Having experience in non-tech fields and projects has helped me be far more successful in a tech career. Knowing how to sew, experience as a massage therapist, and my communication skills have all directly helped me advance and solve challenges. Not only have I used these skills in ways I never expected, but they have allowed me to bring valuable perspective to my work and team. In order to innovate and push boundaries, we need people with a wide range of experiences and skills—not just tech experience.”

Rich Howe VP Engineering at WhiteFox (www.whitefoxdefense.com) said: “Recruiting in the local area has been very challenging. We currently have an extremely low unemployment rate so it’s been hard finding people. For this reason, the Ticket into Tech program has been especially valuable in helping us meet our talent needs. Last fall we hired a student from the program and he’s been fantastic, he’s at the core of the QA team and has been a great addition to our company.

The main benefits of having an apprentice is that we’re able to train them in the procedures we want and tailor their skills to our needs. It’s worked so well that we’re currently working on hiring more full stack developers and QA technicians.”

‘Meet the Employers Day’ Details

Date: February 14th, 2019

Time: 12:30pm-3:30pm

Location: SLO County Office of Education (Across the highway from Cuesta College)

Agenda: Employers pick in advance which of the 27 graduates they would like to interview (10 minutes per interview) and from these brief interviews can schedule full interviews with their top prospects the following week at their office.

-ENDS-

Notes to editors

For more information or to arrange an interview, please contact Lindsey McConaghy at (805 471-0165) or [email protected].

About Ticket into Tech

Ticket into Tech, created by SLO Partners in 2017, aims at creating 1,000 new head-of-household careers in the technology industry in the San Luis Obispo region. With our mantra, “Screen for Attitude, Train for Aptitude,” we take a proven apprenticeship model, that pairs leading-edge classes with on-the-job training, and turn passion into a fulfilling career.

We do not discriminate based upon race, religion, color, national origin, gender (including pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions), sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, status as a protected veteran, status as an individual with a disability, or any of the other important characteristics that make us unique and valuable.

About SLO Partners

SLO Partners was formed under the aegis of the San Luis Obispo County Office of Education in 2014 to address college and career readiness among the county’s student population. SLO Partners’ mission is to engage business partners and educators in aligning workforce needs with career and college pathways and provide work experience opportunities to ensure that students have the skills and knowledge necessary for success in the workplace and businesses have the skilled workers required for a sound growing economy. SLO Partners is committed to collaborating with local businesses and education for pathways to opportunity and skilled local talent.