Apprentices on Apprenticeships
Insights and advice from members of the ‚ÄėClass of ‚Äė21‚Äô
WE DIDN‚ÄôT SET out to make this the ‚Äútraining issue‚ÄĚ of the ACDS newsletter. But once we settled on Dr. Donald Walker as this month‚Äôs Q & A, it just seemed natural to also include a handful of Registered Apprentices talking about how the kind of training Dr. Walker provides has helped them in their IT careers. That, in turn, gives us another opportunity to tout the new ITArkansas Magazine, from which these adapted and shortened apprenticeship quotes were pulled.
As we told you last month, volume 2 of the print edition of ITArkansas includes a special section on Careers, from both the IT talent and employer points of view. By now, you should be seeing copies of the magazine in schools and in office lobbies, not to mention on the website https://itarkansas.com. But if you‚Äôd like your own personal copy of the print magazine, please email Jackson Gladden at Arkansas Times (jacksongladden@arktimes.com), and he‚Äôll shoot one out to you via snail mail. Meanwhile, we‚Äôre proud to present the following ‚Äúsuccess stories‚ÄĚ from some of last year‚Äôs stellar crop of IT apprentices.
‚ÄúSWITCH IT UP, KEEP THINGS INTERESTING‚ÄĚ
MY APPRENTICESHIP HAS definitely shaped and really defined my career as a Quality Assurance Test Engineer in the best ways possible. I’ve been able to receive basically unlimited mentorship, on-the-job training, and plenty of additional technical training to further advance me as an IT professional. My main advice for future apprentices is that this is a constantly changing industry with so many domains that you never truly have to stick to one forever‚ÄĒswitch it up, keep things interesting, and as clichéd as it sounds, just never stop learning.
– Justice Baker, Metova
YOU MAY NOT realize just how much you gain by participating in an apprenticeship, but once you start to use that knowledge in your position and within your company, it’s such a satisfying feeling. I will forever use what I’ve learned going forward in my career. I feel like I’ve had a “career” for a long time, yet, somehow, I now feel like I have a “fulfilling career.” If you’re given the opportunity to be a part of an apprenticeship, take it‚ÄĒyou’ll never regret it.
– Kelsey Hedrick, ACDS
SINCE COMPLETING MY apprenticeship program, I not only received a very nice pay increase from my employer, I also was moved into a network-security-related role. My apprenticeship greatly prepared me to tackle the day-to-day tasks in my new role, which also helped me feel more confident in my personal life. I was blessed to have a great group of people to help guide me, and I’ll be forever grateful.
– Kris Haire, Oaklawn
I’M SO THANKFUL to be a part of the ACDS apprenticeship program, not only because I was able to be placed with a great company like SkuNinja + WhyteSpyder. I’m also thankful because the apprenticeship helped me find the confidence that I had lost after stagnating for years in my career. The training and mentorship I received helped me see the value in the skills I already had and allowed me to develop those skills toward a career that I know I’ll be able to grow with.
– Laura Weiderhaft, SkuNinja + WhyteSpyder
I‚ÄôVE HAD THREE role changes since starting the apprenticeship program! I‚Äôm very excited by this latest change‚ÄĒworking in a Division Data Analyst role with our Data Science team‚ÄĒbecause I‚Äôm learning a lot and hope to become a Data Scientist eventually. I feel like this career change can be directly linked to the apprenticeship, in which I was exposed to multiple technical processes, such as Java, javascript, html, and SQL. It helps when you can discuss new technology, especially in interviews. It also helps when you don‚Äôt feel overwhelmed about learning new things, because you know you can do it since you‚Äôve done it already. I‚Äôm learning R right now, and a lot of the logic is similar to things I‚Äôve done in the past. That‚Äôs another helpful aspect of the apprenticeship‚ÄĒexpanding my logical and analytical mindset.
– Jodi-Ann Clough, Arvest Bank