NYCHA Resident Sets Sights on IT Career After NPower Training
NYCHA resident Darrell Bell was ready to pursue information technology (IT) industry certification on his own until he discovered the NPower training program for digital careers.
After graduating with a bachelor’s degree in interdisciplinary studies from SUNY’s Alfred State College, Mr. Bell believed a career in IT would be a natural fit, noting he “always had an interest in computers.” He had already begun studying on his own for the A+ certification for technical support jobs, but when he received a flyer promoting how NPower’s free program could assist with acquiring that same certification, Mr. Bell jumped at the chance to enroll.
“At that time, it was exactly what I was looking for,” said Mr. Bell, 27, a lifelong resident of Manhattan’s Taft Houses.
The nonprofit NPower is a vocational training partner of NYCHA’s Office of Resident Economic Empowerment and Sustainability (REES), which hosts resident recruitment events and information sessions for the free workforce development program. Seeing that many of the skills covered could be directly applied to IT jobs, Mr. Bell enrolled in NPower’s 23-week Tech Fundamentals program in East Harlem, which prepares young adults to begin careers in the field of information technology. The program offers 16 weeks of instruction along with a seven-week paid internship, as well as job placement assistance.
The aspiring IT professional commended how the program focused on an array of computer basics, including hardware and software development, the various parts of a computer, operating systems, networking, security, types of viruses, and system vulnerabilities.
“I felt like I was learning something that I can actually use,” he said. “The instructors are really knowledgeable and they have experience within the IT field.”
As a graduate of NPower training, Mr. Bell had the opportunity to apply some of his knowledge through a seven-week internship at East Side House Settlement, a community-based social service organization in the Bronx, where he assisted help desk callers with email, printing, and connectivity issues. The internship experience also allowed him to work as an instructor, teaching high school students some basic IT information.
Upon completing the fundamentals course, Mr. Bell participated in NPower’s advanced program on the Amazon Web Services cloud computing platform in Brooklyn, which he said further prepared him for future work in the IT industry.
While he is currently pursuing Network+ certification for troubleshooting, configuring, and managing networks, and hopes to eventually secure a full-time computer networking position, Mr. Bell said he is thankful to NPower for setting him on the path toward fulfilling his career ambitions.
“It has made a great difference, and it gave me some direction as far as what I wanted to do career-wise,” Mr. Bell concluded.