{"id":166207,"date":"2022-09-28T17:02:43","date_gmt":"2022-09-29T03:02:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/?p=166207"},"modified":"2022-10-03T10:42:38","modified_gmt":"2022-10-03T20:42:38","slug":"students-leap-start-into-high-demand-it-jobs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2022\/09\/28\/students-leap-start-into-high-demand-it-jobs\/","title":{"rendered":"Students get a \u2018Leap-Start\u2019 into high-demand IT jobs"},"content":{"rendered":"<span class=\"span-reading-time rt-reading-time\" style=\"display: block;\"><span class=\"rt-label rt-prefix\">Reading time: <\/span> <span class=\"rt-time\"> 3<\/span> <span class=\"rt-label rt-postfix\">minutes<\/span><\/span><div class=\"responsive-video-wrap-post\"><figure class=\"wp-block-embed wp-block-embed-youtube is-type-video is-provider-youtube epyt-figure\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\"><div class=\"epyt-video-wrapper\"><iframe  id=\"_ytid_52905\"  width=\"676\" height=\"676\"  data-origwidth=\"676\" data-origheight=\"676\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/JOVnDof7bQs?enablejsapi=1&origin=https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu&rel=0&autoplay=0&cc_load_policy=0&cc_lang_pref=&iv_load_policy=1&loop=0&fs=1&playsinline=0&autohide=2&theme=dark&color=red&controls=1&disablekb=0&\" class=\"__youtube_prefs__  no-lazyload\" title=\"Students get a \u2018Leap-Start\u2019 into high-demand IT jobs\"  allow=\"fullscreen; accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen data-no-lazy=\"1\" data-skipgform_ajax_framebjll=\"\"><\/iframe><\/div><\/div><\/figure><\/div>\n<p>A new program is training University of <span aria-label=\"Hawaii\">Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> students to enter the critical, growing information technology (<abbr>IT<\/abbr>) sector by providing practical experience with the help of local companies. Computer and technology occupations are promising career fields, with related employment projected to increase 13% nationally between 2020&#8211;30. In <span aria-label=\"Hawaii\">Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span>, employment in the computer and mathematics occupation group is forecast to increase 7% from 2018&#8211;28.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_166211\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-166211\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/system-leap-start-3-300x169.jpg\" alt=\"Person viewed through equipment\" width=\"300\" height=\"169\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-166211\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/system-leap-start-3-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/system-leap-start-3-130x73.jpg 130w, https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/system-leap-start-3.jpg 676w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-166211\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><abbr>UH<\/abbr> hired former Leap-Start student Kelli Tamashiro as a web design and support specialist in June<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>After piloting the initiative for 6 months, <abbr title=\"University of Hawaii\">UH<\/abbr> announced the <abbr>IT<\/abbr>\/Cyber Leap-Start Experience Excelerator Program, which provides significant real-world professional experience for <abbr>IT<\/abbr> and cybersecurity students approaching graduation, and recent <abbr>UH<\/abbr> graduates who need practical work experience. Leap-Start\u2019s goal is to improve the workforce readiness of students and graduates to successfully compete for <abbr>IT<\/abbr> and cyber employment in <span aria-label=\"Hawaii\">Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> while providing employers with much needed resources.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Participants in Leap-Start will gain experience applying learned technical and other skills to &lsquo;real life&rsquo; situations to address and solve problems faced by the organization they work in,&rdquo; said <strong>Alan Ito<\/strong>, <abbr>UH<\/abbr> <abbr>IT<\/abbr> workforce development and regulated policy lead. &ldquo;In addition, participants will have an opportunity to work in teams, sharpen their verbal and written communication skills, and practice other professional skills highly sought by <span aria-label=\"Hawaii\">Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> employers.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Ito said they hope to have at least 20 participants by the end of 2022.<\/p>\n<h2>Leap-Start highlights<\/h2>\n<figure id=\"attachment_166210\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-166210\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/system-leap-start-2-300x169.jpg\" alt=\"Person working at a computer\" width=\"300\" height=\"169\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-166210\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/system-leap-start-2-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/system-leap-start-2-130x73.jpg 130w, https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/system-leap-start-2.jpg 676w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-166210\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Former Leap-Start student Kelli Tamashiro now does web design for <abbr>UH<\/abbr><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<ul>\n<li><abbr>UH<\/abbr>\u2019s Information Technology Services (<abbr>ITS<\/abbr>) provides the operational home, hiring participating students and post-graduation participants.<\/li>\n<li><abbr>ITS<\/abbr> provides initial hiring, onboarding, &ldquo;bootcamp\u201d training and ongoing mentorship for participants.<\/li>\n<li>Participants will be paired with employers (which could include <abbr>UH<\/abbr>) for task assignments of 2&#8211;6+ months.<\/li>\n<li>Employers will provide participants with temporary full-time or part-time job opportunities along with appropriate supervision.<\/li>\n<li>Employers may choose to directly hire a participant or the participant may choose to leave the program at any time for employment.<\/li>\n<li>Participants not hired will return to the participant pool for additional employer assignments after their task assignment is completed.<\/li>\n<li>Program participation term is for a finite period. Participants not hired will be off-boarded at the end of the term.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Students can find out more by contacting Ito at <a href=\"mailto:asito@hawaii.edu\">asito@hawaii.edu<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h2>Working with local employers<\/h2>\n<figure id=\"attachment_166209\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-166209\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/system-leap-start-1-300x169.jpg\" alt=\"Person working at a computer\" width=\"300\" height=\"169\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-166209\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/system-leap-start-1-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/system-leap-start-1-130x73.jpg 130w, https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/system-leap-start-1.jpg 676w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-166209\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Leap-Start student Daphne Oh has been placed with a local IT service provider<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Local companies are already partnering to employ Leap-Start participants. These include: Intech Hawaii, eWorld Enterprise Solutions, Hawaii Pacific Health, American Savings Bank, <abbr>HMSA<\/abbr> and Hawaiian Airlines.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;We look forward to immersing Leap-Start students in the exciting work that our <abbr>IT<\/abbr> teams do every day to support essential operational and commercial functions that keep our airline running,&rdquo; said John Jacobi, senior vice president and chief information officer at Hawaiian Airlines. &ldquo;As <span aria-label=\"Hawaii\">Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span>\u2019s hometown carrier, we are grateful to partner with the University of <span aria-label=\"Hawaii\">Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> to give our local students valuable on-the-job training while introducing them to rewarding <abbr>IT<\/abbr> career opportunities at Hawaiian.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p><span aria-label=\"Hawaii\">Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> nonprofit <a href=\"https:\/\/climbhi.org\/portals\/\">ClimbHI<\/a> also worked with <abbr>UH<\/abbr> to seamlessly integrate Leap-Start into its <a href=\"https:\/\/climbhi.org\/portals\/\">ClimbHI Bridge<\/a> online portal. Launched in 2020, the Bridge is used by hundreds of businesses across the state in an unprecedented public-private partnership, linking thousands of educators, students, businesses and organizations together to provide educational and workforce development opportunities.<\/p>\n<p>The portal allows students to learn about and apply for internships in the local defense, <abbr>IT<\/abbr> and engineering industries with easy-to-use, dedicated access.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Leap-Start helps enhance the visibility of the numerous career opportunities we have right here at home and connects University of <span aria-label=\"Hawaii\">Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> students with businesses in one automated system,&rdquo; said ClimbHI President Julie Morikawa.<\/p>\n<h2><abbr>UH<\/abbr> <abbr>IT<\/abbr> &#38; Intelligence Career Fair<\/h2>\n<p>An upcoming <abbr>IT<\/abbr> career fair will also provide opportunities for both local industry and students. <abbr>UH<\/abbr> and partners Chamber of Commerce Hawaii, Hawaii Defense Alliance, <abbr>CIO<\/abbr> Council of Hawaii and CyberHawaii are hosting a virtual <abbr>IT<\/abbr> &#38; Intelligence Career Fair on Friday, October 14, 2022, 10 a.m.&#8211;1 p.m. using the Brazen platform.<\/p>\n<p>Prospective employers will be able to chat, live stream video and video chat individually with candidates, as well as review any registered attendee\u2019s resume before, during and following the event. Students will also be able to check out employers and vendors, send them messages, and &ldquo;get in line&rdquo; to speak with them. Students across the 10-campus <abbr>UH<\/abbr> system may register at: <a href=\"http:\/\/go.hawaii.edu\/2P6\">go.hawaii.edu\/2P6<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p><abbr>UH<\/abbr> is partnering with local businesses to train and employ <abbr>IT<\/abbr> and cybersecurity students.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[25,12],"tags":[749,61,62,416,63,64,65,71,14,9,60,947,59,56,66],"class_list":["post-166207","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-academic-news","category-video","tag-cybersecurity","tag-hawaii-community-college","tag-honolulu-community-college","tag-information-technology","tag-kapiolani-community-college","tag-kauai-community-college","tag-leeward-community-college","tag-uh-community-colleges","tag-uh-hilo","tag-uh-manoa","tag-maui-college","tag-uh-system","tag-uh-west-oahu","tag-video-2","tag-windward-community-college","entry","has-media"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/166207","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=166207"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/166207\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":166404,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/166207\/revisions\/166404"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=166207"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=166207"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=166207"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}