An Overview of: The U.S. National IT Apprenticeship System

CompTIA Computing Technology Industry Association Not-for-profit trade association for the Technology Industry Supports and represents more than 14,000 domestic and international companies in the global information technology industry Provides a unified voice for the technology industry with programs in — –Vendor-Neutral Certification –Public Policy –Workforce development –ServiceMetric® –E-Commerce/E-Business

An Information Technology Apprenticeship ? How did the concept of an IT Apprenticeship come about? It was after all: –Easy to set up a training business to train IT personnel –Obtain vendor support and certifications –Satisfy an overwhelming demand in 90’s –Try to fill an almost unlimited number of open positions

So what happened? Late 1990’s / 2000 Consolidation in training provider community Over abundance of “paper” certified applicants seeking employment Company infrastructures matured – requiring better and properly skilled workers. Technology matured – revisions fewer and farther between Fewer open positions – demanding more experienced workers During the 1990’s: Explosion of IT training companies – some good. Thousands of students entered the workforce as “IT Professionals” The industry was new, there were no standards to work from other than vendor specified certifications Technological changes were frequent Companies were hiring!

The “Old” Ways Of Developing IT Workers Are No Longer Sufficient Technological Innovation No Workforce Standards Vendor Certifications Vendor Neutral Certifications Industry-Wide, Vendor Neutral, Skill and Knowledge Based System IT Workforce Maturity

Background to NITAS In 2000 CompTIA submitted a proposal to the DoL to investigate the feasibility of a National IT Apprenticeship. –In July 2000 CompTIA was awarded a grant to conduct a research project. Survey conducted in late 2000 with over 650 employers –Results indicated an overwhelming response for a structured approach to IT training. (The current training did not meet employer needs) –IT occupations were identified that would work within apprenticeship. –3 pilots were conducted with non-IT companies

Survey results

More than 53% of employers surveyed are interested in participating in the IT apprenticeship program

60% of employers believe Apprenticeship would work in their organization

Pilot program In 2001 CompTIA and ATELS developed several pilot projects to test acceptance of an IT apprenticeship Some of the pilot participants to date include: –Henkels and McCoy –NUWC –Exodus Homes –McDonalds Corporation Results from these pilot programs are impressive and were the fuel for the development of Pilot results follow:

Average Self-Ratings of Program Efficacy By Pilot Apprentices and Supervisors (N=50) Competency Before Started Competency Now Competency if had not participated Extremely Limited (1) Partially Proficient (2) Competent (3) Extremely Proficient (4) Extremely Limited (1) Partially Proficient (2) Competent (3) Extremely Proficient (4) Extremely Limited (1) Partially Proficient (2) Competent (3) Extremely Proficient (4) Exodus Homes—7.5 months NUWC months H&M (1) months H&M (2) months

Average Self-Ratings of Program Efficacy By Pilot Apprentices and Supervisors (N=35) Improved Quality and Reduced Re-Work Increased Feeling of Loyalty to Employer Exodus Homes—7.5 months NUWC months H&M (2) months Strongly Disagree (1) Somewhat Disagree (2) Neither Agree Or Disagree (3) Somewhat Agree (4) Strongly Agree (5) Helped Meet Schedule Objectives at Work Recommend Employer Continues Program Strongly Disagree (1) Somewhat Disagree (2) Neither Agree Or Disagree (3) Somewhat Agree (4) Strongly Agree (5) Strongly Disagree (1) Somewhat Disagree (2) Neither Agree Or Disagree (3) Somewhat Agree (4) Strongly Agree (5) Strongly Disagree (1) Somewhat Disagree (2) Neither Agree Or Disagree (3) Somewhat Agree (4) Strongly Agree (5)

McDonald’s Apprentices’ Productivity Growth To Date In 13 weeks total productivity improved significantly among 10 IT Project Manager apprentices

To ensure that American Industries and America’s IT workforce maintain global competitive advantage through: 1.rapid adaptation to IT technological innovation 2.Utilization of the most effective training to produce highly productive, skilled IT worker 3.melding of business strategy and business process thinking into U.S. IT workforce expertise MISSION

Vision for NITAS Serve the entire IT industry (workforce, employers, trainers). Self-sustaining. True apprenticeship system following the ATELS guidelines: Use Skill standards. CompTIA registration, OJL, classroom instruction. Career paths with progressive wages. Career ID and transcript in a centralized database. Certified OJL providers. ATELS registration. Integrate ATELS outreach and industry marketing efforts. Model for rolling out apprenticeship to all target industries.

IT Worker Network Design & Admin Web Development & Admin Database Development & Admin Enterprise Systems Analysis and Integration Programming/ Software Engineering IT Generalist (Tech Support Specialist) Digital Media Project Management Required Core Specialization Skills Specialization Elective Skills Primary and/or Secondary Specialization Areas 3-4 year program of classroom instruction and structured OJT IT Apprenticeship Specialization Skill Levels Level 1 (Foundational) Level 2 (Full Working) Level 3 (Journey Worker) Program Entrance Criteria (if entry level workers) --at least 18 years of age, high school or GED, basic keyboard skills IT Apprenticeship Structure For Existing Workers and Incoming Workers) Level 4 (Master Journey Worker) ---Post Apprenticeship Level 0 (Employable) others

Sample Transcript Content In IT Apprenticeship System

Benefits to Employers from Participation in NITAS Participation in the system enables IT employers to attract and retain better workers. Participation aligns organization to a performance orientation, going beyond the acquisition of knowledge or intellectual achievement. Participation reduces risk in the employee selection and hiring process. Participation will afford the opportunity to receive greater worker productivity for less cost. Participation offers a structured approach to providing IT career paths that is based upon “best practices”. The approach links training objectives and task performance with employee performance appraisals. Participation is a symbol of quality that can be displayed to customers Participation forces the inclusion of on-the-job-learning which is a better way of providing training—faster learning and fewer errors during the learning process. Participation makes industry-wide performance norms and benchmark data available for salary administration.

Where to next? Development of scalable, sustainable management system Marketing of Help with the development of apprenticeship as a model for other industries