For those of you who may be wondering if one person can make a difference, look no further than the Jefferson Awards.”
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES, January 30, 2021 /EINPresswire.com/ — Over three years ago, Larry Apke and Dave Rawlings, friends since childhood, founded The Job Hackers, a nonprofit dedicated to helping the unemployed, providing a free training program that would normally cost thousands of dollars per person. Since then, they have provided over $2 million of free training. Through their experience, they are helping the unemployed find work and bring diversity to the tech world. For their efforts they were given a Silver Medal from the Jefferson Awards in a virtual ceremony on January 27 and are now in the running for a national award.
In his acceptance speech, David Rawlings, Head of Operations, stated “For those of you who may be wondering if one person can make a difference, look no further than the Jefferson Awards. Each week KPIX profiles someone who is making a difference in the world. Everyone of these individuals is deserving of this award which is why we are even more humbled to be chosen.”
For his part, Larry Apke, Chief Agile Officer, emphasized the Job Hackers community, “While we might be the faces that the public sees, the Job Hackers is a thriving community of over 2000 individuals – volunteers, partners and participants. We accept this award on their behalf.”
The core offering of the Job Hackers is a class commonly referred to as “the Agile MBA”, a course that teaches students Agile and Scrum. It also prepares students to pass the Professional Scrum Master (PSM I) Certification exam. According to LinkedIn, Scrum Masters are well paid and it is one of the fastest-growing professions.
Scrum Masters lead Scrum Teams for the delivery of projects ranging from software development to marketing. Apke volunteers his time to teach the course by Zoom and it has received raved reviews for being insightful, helpful and well put together.
The course normally costs up to $2,000 but is available free of charge to anyone around the world. In lieu of payment, students are asked to give back to their community by volunteering their time.
“We estimate that we’ve given away about $2 million in free training to more than 750 students and added thousands of hours of volunteer time,” said Apke.
Graduates also have access to job listings, resume review services, networking to with a Slack community of nearly 2,000 people and other resources that support a job search.
“Even during the pandemic, about 40 percent of our graduates find a job within 90 days,” said The Job Hackers explained Mr. Apke. “Many find management jobs, with some earning a six-figure income. Registration is open to everyone around the world and there’s no prerequisite.”
The average age of their students is 43, roughly half are minorities, and 60 percent are women, many returning to work after taking care of parents or children. One of the reasons there are a lot of women is because they partner with many women’s groups.
The Job Hackers can also help companies become more competitive by offering the same training in a two-day program. The unique curriculum covers Agile, Scrum, Quality, Product Design and Flow, Systems Thinking, Employee Motivation and more.
The Job Hackers mission is to help candidates find employment. It does this by providing valuable knowledge about Agile and Scrum to prepare them for real-world jobs and working with them and employers to ensure the proper placement of participants.
Nobody at The Job Hackers gets paid. Their mission is accomplished with a corps of volunteers and on a shoestring budget of about $10,000 per year. You can support The Job Hackers cause by making a donation, becoming a partner or shopping at its online store.
“If you need a job, no matter where you are, sign-up for our course. It costs you nothing and it could be the best decision of your life,” said Apke.
To find out more about The Job Hackers see their website. You can also contact Larry Apke at [email protected]
Jefferson Award Broadcast
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