When IT-Ready Program officials approached Medica about offering post-graduation apprenticeships to adults entering the information technology field, the company’s senior IT leaders were receptive to the notion. After all, Medica already had an internship program in place for high school students, so its employees were accustomed to working with individuals who didn’t have a lot of past IT job experience, said David McPhaul, IT Services manager at Medica.
“We saw this as another opportunity to give something back to our community,” he said.
But what the company didn’t necessarily expect, McPhaul said, was how much IT-Ready apprentices would give Medica in return.
“We’ve found that IT-Ready apprentices pick up on things and assimilate very quickly,” McPhaul said. “It’s proven to be a real win-win situation.”
IT-Ready is a joint program of the Creating IT Futures Foundation and Per Scholas. Each year IT-Ready trains over 700 unemployed and underemployed adults who lack opportunity for upwardly mobile careers. They train in a classroom setting and are then placed in IT roles.
Since 2012, when IT-Ready opened in the Twin Cities, Medica has provided apprenticeship positions to five IT-Ready graduates, said Kathy Brennan, manager of IT-Ready Minneapolis/St. Paul.
“Medica had had great familiarity with internships in the past,” she said. “What they liked about IT-Ready was the fact that our graduates were older and brought with them previous business experience. They had worked with customers before, and were able to leverage that experience on Medica’s behalf.”
McPhaul agreed. “Especially when it comes to working on the IT service desk, we saw an advantage in hiring people who had dealt with customers previously, and who had the maturity and savvy to work within a corporate environment. That definitely was a benefit to us.”
Serving about 1.5 million members and headquartered in Minneapolis, Medica is a not-for-profit health insurance company active in the Upper Midwest. Medica’s vision is to become the community’s health plan of choice, trusted for its integrity, respected for its service and admired for its commitment to innovation and efficiency.
McPhaul says all of the IT-Ready graduates have contributed to the company in meaningful ways.
“We’ve found that we can bring on IT-Ready apprentices with very little supervision,” he said. “Their learning curve is rapid but they manage it quite well.”
Medica hasn’t always been able to offer full-time or contract work to apprentices at the end of their initial trial period, “but at least we could give them some practical IT experience and a positive reference that would help them secure full-time employment elsewhere,” McPhaul said. “We’re able to give people some real-life skills and experience — even if we aren’t able to keep them on.”
Brennan agreed. “We would love for employers to offer a full-time position to every graduate at the conclusion of the apprenticeship, but we know that isn’t possible. However, the apprentice can add that six months of practical experience to a resume, and also gain a strong reference from an IT supervisor. When you have IT certifications, practical experience and a positive reference, that really stands out to a future employer.”
In addition to offering apprenticeships to IT-Ready Program graduates, McPhaul has supported the program by visiting an IT-Ready class to share information about corporate IT career paths and the different opportunities available to students.
Brennan said she would enthusiastically welcome the involvement of new corporate partners in the apprenticeship program. The IT-Ready Program tries to encourage new corporate partners to join with its “no obligation” approach to apprenticeships, she said.
“We understand that there will always be a thorough evaluation from all participants involved when it comes to hiring people,” Brennan said. “I tell prospective employers that if you think the IT-Ready Program is a great concept, you can interview students to see if you think they’d be a good fit for your organization. There’s no obligation — either in extending apprenticeships or extending job offers at the conclusion of apprenticeships.”
In addition to Minnesota, the IT-Ready Network also includes sites in Cincinnati, Columbus, New York, and the National Capital Region. If you’d like more information about how your company could become a corporate partner with IT-Ready, please contact Kathy Brennan at [email protected] or 630-678-8364.
Eric Larson is the director of marketing and communications for the Creating IT Futures Foundation.
