My first full-time job during high school was interning with the USDA. Students were guaranteed a position for at least the summer, and our productivity determined whether we would be kept on any longer.

I was stationed in the IT department which luckily allowed me the privilege of not having to be stationary for 40 hours a week. However the dim lights, older coworkers, and tedious work made everyday a struggle. In fact, if I did not make friends with the other interns I probably would have quit early.

I managed to make it through the summer and work a couple extra months, but when my partner informed me that she was moving to go to college, it was all the incentive I needed to move on from that position.

Sometimes I wonder if I should have stayed in that position, especially since one of my fellow interns stayed for 7 years, and enjoyed all the benefits of working for the government. However, Jules Schroeder’s article “Millennials, Don’t Make This Mistake When Applying For A Job” helps me tolerate my decision by explaining her first experience in an office setting.

Schroeder’s first full-time job experience was very similar to mine, however without having other young people on the staff she ended up quitting within two weeks. Schroeder is essentially explaining to the reader that you must seek out a job that you can be happy at, not one that is tied to financial success.

Studies have shown that our overall happiness is tied to the happiness we have at our jobs, therefore we should look for a position that brings us the most joy possible.

Here’s to finding a job that makes you happy!

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Businesses, communities and people are excited by the potential opportunities that an increased focus on infrastructure and manufacturing will have on local communities and across the nation.

At first glance a renewed focus on these areas is great news, and then articles and research start to appear like this recent Bloomberg Markets report that “Four-fifths of executives surveyed said that a shortage of sufficiently skilled workers will affect their companies in the next 12 months.” Which is followed up by “Complaints of hard-to-fill factory jobs are backed up by Bureau of Labor Statistics data: 324,000 manufacturing spots were open in November, up from 238,000 a year earlier.”

So what will keep us from actually increasing manufacturing and constructing new infrastructure? The lack of skilled workers.

Fortunately, this is a solvable problem.  SkillSmart’s focus on skills development and skills based hiring helps directly address this issue with a scalable solution.  We work with employers to identify the skills they need which helps job seekers better understand the skills they need to be qualified or considered for hiring.  Then, we show them where they acquire these skills through local education and training resources.

In fact, we have seen a more than 2 to 1 increase in successful hiring outcomes with our clients who use the SkillSmart platform and a 21% increase in the rate of retention.

The impact of skills in the workplace is real and can have both positive and negative results.  Lack of skills can hinder success, but we have shown that skills based hiring achieves real, sustainable and positive outcomes to help construction, manufacturing and other important industry sectors grow.  This focus on skills is critical to driving the desired growth in our economy, communities and people.

Purple Line Transit Partners (PLTP) is partnering with SkillSmart, a skills-based platform, to connect local job seekers to the Purple Line job opportunities for which they are the best match. The SkillSmart platform also identifies the skills job seekers need to acquire in order to apply for available Purple Line job opportunities.

PLTP, a consortium of three experienced and successful public-private partnership (P3) developers and equity investors, was selected by the state last year to design, build, finance, operate, and maintain the Purple Line. In an effort to increase local hiring, PLTP will use the SkillSmart platform so job seekers can explore the various opportunities, build a profile to better understand how their education and work experiences meet the skills needed for various open positions, link individuals to education and training resources to help them build required skills, and apply for open positions.

“The Purple Line is Maryland’s first P3 transit project and its construction has been eagerly anticipated by businesses and residents all along the route. We are very excited to work with PLTP to help local residents acquire the skills they need to be hired for the construction and operation of this project,” said Mike Knapp, CEO of SkillSmart. “It is great to implement our mission of mobilizing community resources for major economic impact on another significant project in the DC metro region.”

Founded by Jason Green and Mike Knapp, SkillSmart is a tech-enabled, skills-based platform that helps growing organizations and industries find and develop the talent they need by matching job seekers to employment opportunities based on skills and abilities. SkillSmart creates a pipeline of qualified workers and helps prospective employees gain the skills they need. Recognizing the challenge that many employers face when seeking qualified and skilled talent, the SkillSmart platform directly connects the three key stakeholders of today’s workforce: employers, job seekers and educators – creating transparency in the talent acquisition process and enabling job seekers to better understand the various cybersecurity opportunities and pathways. In return, employers can identify a stronger pool of candidates.

The Purple Line, a 21 station, 16-mile light rail line extending from Bethesda in Montgomery County to New Carrollton in Prince George’s County, has been selected to receive a $900 million grant under the Federal Transit Administration’s competitive New Starts program. When completed, it will provide a direct connection to Metrorail’s Red, Green and Orange Lines at Bethesda, Silver Spring, College Park, and New Carrollton. The Purple Line will also connect to MARC, AMTRAK, and local bus services.

Current partners leveraging the SkillSmart platform include MGM National Harbor, MGM Springfield, the Milwaukee Bucks, Anne Arundel Workforce Development Corp., Springfield Public Schools in Springfield, MA, and the Chesapeake Regional Tech Council, in addition to others.

For further information about SkillSmart, please visit www.SkillSmart.us or contact Michael Knapp at 301-980-4095 or mknapp@skillsmart.us.

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About SkillSmart

SkillSmart is a skills-based, tech-enabled platform that helps growing organizations and industries find the talent they need by matching job seekers to employment opportunities based on skills and abilities. To accomplish this, SkillSmart partners with companies from a variety of industries and provides access to their proprietary technology to allow them to search and filter through a pipeline of qualified candidates. SkillSmart’s mission is to end the skills gap that employers face in filling various roles. 

A couple weeks ago I wrote a blog detailing the misinformation about the lack of opportunities available for someone who didn’t have a four-year degree. This post is meant to highlight careers that are possible without a degree.

Contrary to popular beliefs, there are some high paying career options for those who do not want to be shackled with student debt and college loans. Here we list 10 of the highest paying jobs that do not require a college degree. This list is courtesy of Susannah Snider’s article “25 Best Jobs That Don’t Require a College Degree.”

Unsurprisingly, the jobs on the list are predominantly in the Medical or Technological fields. While they’re achievable without a degree, they do require specialized skills which help advance their pay scale.

SkillSmart is designed to help our members identify, learn and improve skills. We help create a transparent career path in various industries. Register or log in now to see our latest opportunities, and the skills needed to be qualified.

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The International Consortium of Minority Cybersecurity Professionals (ICMCP) is working with SkillSmart, a skills-based platform, to increase efforts to address the gross underrepresentation of women and minorities in the Cybersecurity industry.  Cybersecurity is a serious economic and national security challenge, yet tens of thousands of critical jobs in this field are unfilled due to a lack of qualified applicants. This new partnership will allow qualified women and minority candidates to more readily display their skills to get hired today and will help to create a pipeline of prospective candidates to fill the backlog of open jobs.

Founded by Jason Green and Mike Knapp, SkillSmart is a tech-enabled, skills-based platform that helps growing organizations and industries find and develop the talent they need by matching job seekers to employment opportunities based on skills and abilities. SkillSmart creates a pipeline of qualified workers and helps prospective employees gain the skills they need. Recognizing the challenge that many employers face when seeking qualified and skilled talent, particularly for technical and STEM positions, this platform directly connects the three key stakeholders of today’s workforce: employers, job seekers and educators – creating transparency in the talent acquisition process and enabling job seekers to better understand the various cybersecurity opportunities and pathways. In return, employers can identify a stronger pool of candidates.

Current partners leveraging the SkillSmart platform include MGM National Harbor, MGM Springfield, the Milwaukee Bucks, Anne Arundel Workforce Development Corp., Springfield Public Schools in Springfield, MA, and the Chesapeake Regional Tech Council, in addition to others.

“We are very excited to work with ICMCP during this growth phase of their organization,” said Mike Knapp CEO of SkillSmart. “As ICMCP develops, it’s being recognized as leading voice and destination for issues related to Cybersecurity career and industry developments impacting minority Cybersecurity professionals. We are ecstatic about this engagement, and are looking forward to working with the ICMCP team!”

SkillSmart’s user-friendly interface enables candidates to build a skills profile identifying the proficiencies and qualifications they have, regardless of where they were developed. SkillSmart’s proprietary algorithm then calculates a fit score for each candidate, and the skills profile then helps an organization filter a candidate pool down to the top qualified candidates and demonstrates which are the best fit.

“ICMCP’s mission is to promote public awareness of cybersecurity and opportunities for minorities within the profession.  Our partnership with SkillSmart provides a strong foundation to gather and disseminate job openings within the cybersecurity industry,” says Aric K. Perminter, President at ICMCP.  “This partnership directly supports ICMCP’s expressed purpose of “Bridging The Great Minority Cybersecurity Divide.” Launched in 2014, ICMCP is based in North Haledon, NJ. The mission of ICMCP targets minority cyber security professionals worldwide and promotes academic and technical excellence in the industry.

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About SkillSmart

SkillSmart is a skills-based, tech-enabled platform that helps growing organizations and industries find the talent they need by matching job seekers to employment opportunities based on skills and abilities. To accomplish this, SkillSmart partners with companies from a variety of industries and provides access to their proprietary technology to allow them to search and filter through a pipeline of qualified candidates. SkillSmart’s mission is to end the skills gap that employers face in filling various roles.

About ICMCP

The International Consortium of Minority Cybersecurity Professionals (ICMCP) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. It began official operations in September 2014 and is organized exclusively for charitable purposes, to provide members with educational/technical scholarships, mentoring opportunities, professional development and networking opportunities. For more information or to become a sponsor, please visit https://icmcp.org, follow @ICMCP_ORG on Twitter or visit the ICMCP LinkedIn page.

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As youth growing up in the 21st century we are constantly bombarded with information that declares the importance of college. There are countless articles stating that we will make X amount of dollars more if we attend college or much less if we don’t.

But, I believe a deeper examination must be made for your individual needs. While I agree that attending college has its advantages, I do not believe that it is the only path to finding career success.

As I’ve gone through the college process I’ve learned that this old adage is true: “It’s not necessary what you know, but who you know.”

One of the great yet often overlooked advantages of going to college is the opportunity for networking.

As a student you can rub shoulders with individuals who can open doors for you after college. But, often times students don’t know this or take advantage of it. And while I can’t ignore that I found myself in this internship with SkillSmart because of an introduction made by one of my college professors, I know we’re likely in similar situations as college students: fifty thousand dollars in debt, impending graduation, and no firm job offer.

I must admit, however, that I didn’t know all the opportunities available to me without a college degree.

I didn’t know that I could study a craft and work my way up to the point where I could make a middle class salary within five years and much more beyond that. Compared to my present situation it almost seems like a no brainier.

So, to those of you who don’t have the resources or ambition to go to college, don’t buy into the rhetoric that it’s your only path for success.

Don’t feel lesser about yourself if you don’t strive for the badge of a 4 year degree. Because by pursuing in-demand skills outside of traditional academia, you have an opportunity to make more money in a shorter time than by earning a college graduate.

And companies like SkillSmart are designed to help you succeed, they create opportunities for the career path that’s right for you – and your skills.

Here’s to us all finding our right path to success!

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