Last Word
Dashed Dream Turns into Dream Come True, Thanks To IT-Ready
By Lisa Fasold T o provide for his family, Army veteran Phao Thor set his own dreams aside. IT-Ready equipped him with the skills and confidence he needed to make new dreams come true. Phao Thor had a dream. Enlist in the Army, and then use G.I. benefits to attend and graduate from college with a degree in computer science. But three years into Thor’s military service, an unexpected and life-changing event forced him to seek a hardship discharge before his enlistment was complete in order to take care of his family and younger siblings. “I had to place my dreams and goals on hold,” Thor said. Thor’s exit from the Army started an odyssey of sorts —a series of underpaid jobs that included selling vacuum cleaners, delivering newspapers and waiting tables. He worked this assortment of jobs —each one lasting about one year — for nearly a decade. “I felt like I was searching for a career, but I did not knowwhere to look and what I needed to do,” he said. While searching for an entry-level IT position, Thor found an ad promoting an upcoming IT-Ready class in Eagan, Minnesota, in 2012. IT-Ready is a program of Creating IT Futures, the IT workforce charity founded by CompTIA. It provides eight weeks of intensive, classroom-based IT training to students from targeted audiences such as under-employed and displaced workers, as well as women and ethnic minorities under-represented in the tech industry. All IT-Ready courses are underwritten by grants and financial donations, so that students can attend classes for free. IT-Ready teaches skills such as building a computer from parts, installing software, troubleshooting problems, and setting up and managing networks. Students also learn softer professional skills such as communication, teamwork, customer service and job interviewing. At the end of the class, students take the CompTIA A+ certification exam. It was the promise of A+ that caught Thor’s eye.
Phao Thor, IT-Ready graduate
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SPRING 2018 | CompTIAWorld
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