Speaker: Joyce Prunty, Sr. Employer Engagement Manager, ACI Learning
Introduce yourself! What is your role and how long have you been with ACI Learning?
Joyce Prunty: My name is Joyce Prunty and I am the senior employer engagement manager here at ACI Learning in Colorado Springs with the career services department.
Who is in Career Services? How do I contact them?
Joyce Prunty: So there are a number of individuals, both employer engagement managers and employment development managers that are gonna be working with you on your employment journey. There is a directory provided to you and it's a great idea to add them to your phone so you know when they're calling. They may text you, email you, call, possibly LinkedIn messages. It's really important that you stay in communication with the career services individuals, and it could be anybody, as we do work collaboratively across the country. Please make sure that you answer and return phone calls and any communication. We're calling with jobs, we're calling to find out how your interview went, what questions you may have, how your progress is going, and we are absolutely here to help. Also, it's important to make sure that you do not have any unknown blockers set on your phone, as that is typically coming from us. And we wanna make sure that you're answering the phone, both for us and for the employers so they have no problem getting ahold of you. Please make sure your voicemail is clear as well so if we do need to leave a message or employers are trying to get ahold of you, they have a way to leave that message for you. Thank you.
I have no experience in IT. What jobs can I apply for?
Joyce Prunty: No experience in IT, no problem. The number one thing you need to know is you are not alone in this quest. So career services, ACI Learning ,and your instructors, we are all here for you. Not to mention there is a lot of employers that are here to assist as well. The biggest step you can take is to meet with your employment development manager and they're gonna help identify your transferrable skills and your past experience. But if you were looking to just get started help desk, desktop support, business analyst, field technician, there are a ton of opportunities out there to just get started and get the experience under your belt.
Being new to this industry, how can I increase my marketability?
Joyce Prunty: So listen, I'm gonna tell you the secret sauce to building a career in IT. That's gonna be certifications and experience. But how can you increase your marketability? Go take a look at what the market is asking for. So, ZipRecruiter, Indeed, LinkedIn job boards. Read the job descriptions, and they'll give you a lot of information. You can add things like Linux, Python Cisco, SQL. Find what is interesting to you and explore that, There's lots of opportunities to pad your resume.
What is my expected timeframe to finding a job?
Joyce Prunty: So it's no secret that finding a job is a job, and we are absolutely here to empower you to make the best decisions for you and your career path. But I will set the expectation. It can take about two to five months to find a job, sometimes longer, sometimes shorter. But that's the general time frame. However, if you really want to close that gap to closer to two months or less, we will give you all the tools and techniques to get you there faster. The more you apply them, the more you feel empowered to build this career, you will absolutely get there and we are happy to help. So please ask any questions and seek career services for any clarification and guidance that you may feel you need.
