From Classroom to Career, Revolutionizing the Education-to-Work Transition [Webinar Recap]

August 22 Repost from Catalyze

Catalyze Challenge’s Program Director Michelle Cheang joined Terrence Riley, Executive Director of Hack the Hood, and Dan Rhoton, Executive Director of Hopeworks, for a discussion on career-connected learning opportunities for young learners. The discussion was full of insights into the success of Hack the Hood and Hopeworks, and the state of career-connected learning more broadly.  In case you missed the discussion, watch it in full above or check out these top takeaways.

1. Build awareness of career pathways early.

Riley and Rhoton highlighted the power of starting career conversations early on with young learners – particularly Black, Latino/a, Indigenous, AAPI and other historically underrepresented young adults age 16-25 – to create greater awareness around the pathways into high-paying careers in tech.

“You don't have to go to a four-year college and come away with tens of thousands of dollars in debt. We give learners the opportunity to come as they are, to learn about the foundation of this work, to figure it out for themselves.” said Riley. “It's important to have that conversation throughout the matriculation of our youth. We try to meet our learners where they are and give them the tools, the opportunities, and resources to make informed decisions on what's best for themselves, their families, and their communities.” 

2. Identify high-quality employer partners.

As young people develop the skills needed to be competitive in a wide range of jobs, it’s critical for organizations to find employer partners that are eager to find, champion, and support young talent. Check-writing and good intent are both very helpful but they aren’t enough on their own. Riley and Rhoton noted the significance of identifying employer partners who demonstrate an ongoing focus on recruiting and hiring from candidate pools with a diverse set of backgrounds and skills – spotlighting that these partners often are best prepared to support and set up their students for long-term careers.

“When you only look at folks with a college degree, you are filtering out all the folks who are closest to those problems and are most likely to have the solutions. And that's why it's so important to start the conversation early,” said Rhoton.

3. Provide comprehensive, trauma-informed support. 

Once young learners are matched with jobs that are economically fulfilling and aligned with their career goals, wrap around supports like those provided by programs at Hopeworks and Hack the Hood can help young people cultivate the resilience and soft-skill development that unlocks upward career mobility overtime. 

“What we see at Hopeworks is when folks get fired or don't retain their job, it's because of housing, or because of mental health, or because of unresolved things that they have to deal with,” said Rhoton. “It's those trauma-informed skills that folks really need to be successful. And we find that is the secret to helping someone not just get the job right, but to keep it.”