By Matt Taylor, Comcast Senior Manager, Talent Acquisition
With more than 16,000 open, entry-level jobs in greater Philadelphia’s technology scene, it’s a great time to be in talent acquisition and recruiting for this growing sector – especially when you get to do it for one of the City’s largest private employers, not to mention our city’s only Fortune 50 company.
One of the ways that we at Comcast are most proud to support the growth of the local tech sector is through a collaboration called Philly TechHire. This new initiative prepares non-traditional applicants for careers in technology. These applicants may be those with undergraduate degrees looking to change careers or build out skills they learned in college with added technical expertise. We also seek to engage women and people of color, who are underrepresented in tech, as well as veterans and lower income workers who have aptitude and need access. Philly TechHire offers career-ready training and a pipeline to jobs for entry level IT professionals.
Philly TechHire successfully launched its first program last month at an event at the Barnes Foundation. Four teams of Philly TechHire participants were determined by Philadelphia Works, the City’s workforce development agency, and were sponsored by area companies, including Comcast, to develop proposals that leverage technology in support of the Free Library of Philadelphia’s modernization program.
The winning team presented a fully-functional prototype of a web-based data tracking system to undergird the Free Library’s Read! By Fourth child literacy initiative. The team members received paid internships to implement their winning project and gain crucial industry experience.
We look forward to working with Philly TechHire to roll out more innovative job-preparation initiatives, and we’re also involved in creating industry-specific tests geared at helping Philly TechHire participants prepare for internships, apprenticeships or entry-level jobs after successfully completing the program.
We are really proud to be a part of putting Philadelphia on the map for tech, and will continue to look for more ways to leverage our assets to do so, including opportunities to train and engage local, non-traditional applicants to fill local jobs.
Learn more about Philly TechHire here.