After seven years of perfecting its IT workforce training model, Creating IT Futures is doubling the reach of its free IT-Ready career program. With classes now available in seven cities, IT-Ready trains, certifies and places unemployed and under-employed adults in their first jobs in the information technology (IT) field.

With a shortage of qualified workers, the IT industry has more than a half-million jobs open in America. Thousands of these jobs are in helpdesk technician or software testing roles, making double the national wage. IT-Ready prepares adults for these roles in just eight weeks with full-time training. No previous experience is necessary and only a high school diploma or GED is required. 

Students can apply to one of the 25 IT-Ready classes this year in Charlotte, NC; Chicago; Minneapolis – St. Paul; Phoenix; Portland, OR; San Antonio and San Diego at https://www.creatingitfutures.org/it-ready/apply-to-it-ready. The full-time classroom-based courses are underwritten by grants and financial donations, so that students can attend classes for free. 

"With financial support from major organizations such as Boeing, Cognizant U.S. Foundation, CompTIA and TEKsystems, and local partnerships with Goodwill Industries, Jewish Family & Children's Service, Urban League, WorkSource and Wounded Warrior Project, among many others, we're able to double our number of classes this year," said Charles Eaton, CEO of Creating IT Futures. "The tech industry needs more workers, and more workers need more opportunities. America has the people to fill many of these tech jobs; they just need the right training. With IT-Ready, we're putting hard-working adults back into the workforce where they can earn family-sustaining wages and drive the economic growth of this country." 

Creating IT Futures also is helping to diversify the tech industry and open career doors to a wider demographic. Populations that traditionally have been under-represented in the IT workforce, such as women, people of color and veterans, are encouraged to apply. By working with dozens of local employer partners, Creating IT Futures places about 86% of its graduates into full-time employment in the tech industry.

Students work toward CompTIA A+ certification in the IT-Ready Technical Support class, and three software testing certifications in the IT-Ready QA class. IT-Ready students receive free tuition, books and learning materials, more than 240 hours of classroom and hands-on tech and soft skills training, and certification vouchers. Classes run from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. every weekday for eight weeks. 

Beyond recruiting for participants for IT-Ready training, Creating IT Futures is looking for businesses to consider the resumes of certified IT-Ready graduates and interview qualified candidates for entry-level IT positions. Interested employers can contact the Creating IT Futures workforce solutions manager that most closely matches their location by visiting https://www.creatingitfutures.org/hire/hire-overview.