The Ready to Work Program Connects Thousands of San Antonians to Rewarding Careers
By StoryStudio on May 18, 2023
When Angelica Hooks and her husband decided that it was time for her to return to work after three years as a stay-at-home mom, an innovative new career training program called Ready to Work San Antonio helped her find a new, rewarding career. Ready to Work is the City of San Antonio’s education and job placement program helping San Antonians like Angelica acquire the skills needed to succeed in a career. By offering tuition and support services to overcome financial, mental, and social challenges and to earn trade certifications, Associate’s Degrees, or Bachelor’s Degrees, Ready to Work is empowering San Antonians to be the workforce for the next generation of well-paid, high-demand jobs in San Antonio.
Hooks used the Ready to Work program to become a Certified Professional Medical Coder, allowing her to work from home and still manage her household while earning a good wage.
“To be frank, I don't think that I would be employed as a medical coder if I had not participated in Ready to Work,” Hooks recalls, noting that the cost of the accreditation to be a medical coder was a substantial barrier for her and her husband. Instead, through financial assistance from Ready to Work, Hooks was able to train and get hired for this in-demand career.
The wholehearted support from the San Antonio business and education communities has been a key component in successfully launching the Ready to Work program.
SPONSORED BY READY TO WORK
The Ready to Work program offers qualifying San Antonio residents like Angelica grants – not loans – to learn a specialty and then to proceed to the workforce. In addition to tuition funds to attend local colleges and vocational schools, Ready to Work provides wraparound services, like childcare funding and emergency funding for bills like utilities, housing, and internet, in order to give participants the best opportunity possible to complete their degree and career training.
So far, Ready to Work is covering tuition for more than more than 2,550 San Antonians to train in new career paths in coveted, in-demand industries like IT/Finance, Advanced Manufacturing, Education, Construction/Skilled Trades, Healthcare and Energy. Anyone ready to leave the life of low-paying jobs and start on a career path should consider Ready to Work their call to action and can start their journey now.
The success of Ready to Work is attributable to participants’ hard work, and to over 310 San Antonio businesses that have taken the Ready to Work Employer Pledge. The Employer Pledge offers engagement opportunities, like Talent Pipeline Management sessions endorsed by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation, to identify critical talent needs.
“The wholehearted support from the San Antonio business and education communities has been a key component in successfully launching the Ready to Work program,” explains Workforce Development Office Executive Director Mike Ramsey.
According to Ramsey, pledged businesses support the program in a variety of ways, including participating in Ready to Work Employer Roundtables on pressing workplace issues and quarterly industry sector meetings; hosting job fairs and other hiring events; and conducting mock interview sessions with Ready to Work participants. They also work to ensure Ready to Work curricula and training programs are developed to best meet the workforce needs of local employers across a wide range of industries. Local businesses are experiencing growth and need additional employees, thus many pledged employers have committed to hiring Ready to Work graduates.
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What are my next steps?
Step 1: Apply
Meet with a personal coach to:
Confirm eligibility.
Complete paperwork.
Map out a training and career plan based on your skills, education, life challenges and desires.
Step 2: Enroll & Complete Training
Your Ready to Work coach will help you enroll in and pay for classes.
Ready to Work has resources like emergency funding for childcare and transportation to help
you stay in school and on-track to succeed.
Step 3: Get Hired
Your coach will help you improve interview skills, your resume and online
profiles.
Attend job fairs and interviews supported by Ready to Work.
Employers are committed to your success and are ready to hire you!
Ben Peavy, Managing Director at Accenture Federal Services and current Advisory Board Chair of Ready to Work, sees Ready to Work as a critical part of today’s changing economy.
“Technology is at the core of change today, and we are one of the world’s leaders in helping drive that change, with strong ecosystem relationships,” says Peavy. “Ready to Work accelerates and expands career and economic opportunities for citizens of San Antonio by providing underrepresented communities with the training and skills necessary to access digital-economy jobs, while helping companies like Accenture identify hidden talent.”
Accenture sees the long-term goal of Ready to Work as expanding the pipeline of talented people while ultimately contributing to San Antonio’s economic growth for decades to come. The demand is high for Ready to Work careers. According to Peavy, Accenture already employs nearly 2,500 people in San Antonio.
“We recognized early on that the success and sustainability of our workforce development initiatives relies heavily on collaboration across an ecosystem of partners, including government, nonprofit, and learning institutions,” Peavy explains. “We took the Ready to Work Employer Pledge because we want to make workforce development in San Antonio stronger and more sustainable.”
“It's critical that our business community come together to develop a skilled workforce and to fill the talent pipeline,” says Jason Smith, Vice President, Marketing, HOLT CAT, the largest Caterpillar dealer in the U.S and an integral part of the construction industry in San Antonio. Smith is also a member of the Ready to Work Advisory Board Community Outreach Subcommittee. “As a business that’s taken the Ready to Work Employer Pledge, HOLT CAT believes investing in San Antonians is key to maintaining the city’s current economic trajectory and to keeping up with the demands of a growing population. “Committing to developing a skilled workforce is committing to our great city. HOLT is proud to take the Ready to Work Employer Pledge and we encourage others to do the same.”
Committing to developing a skilled workforce is committing to our great city.
What makes Ready to Work so effective is the participation of companies like Accenture and HOLT CAT, both of whom are ready to hire. Having the end piece in play from the start provides a unique opportunity to Ready to Work participants: they know upon graduation that a career is waiting for them. There are advantages for companies, too. Knowing there’s a reliable pipeline of highly trained, career-focused individuals means growth and opportunity for all.
“The Ready to Work program is truly a win-win opportunity for both program participants and the employers who hire them,” says Jarvis Moore, CEO of Jarvis Moore Inc, a Ready to Work Pledged Employer and a member of the Advisory Board Employer Engagement Subcommittee, who specifically employs people facing barriers to meaningful employment. “Whether those barriers are past incarceration, substance abuse, serious illness, or the death of someone in the family, we believe in giving folks opportunities to help them move past their background, to learn skills and to become successful.”
For local employers who have not yet taken the Ready to Work Employer Pledge, Moore encourages them to consider doing so. “Employees who have invested time and effort into the training program are more likely to stick with a job for some period of time. Ready to Work is an excellent conduit for employers who need good, skilled employees.”
For the San Antonians who may have previously believed a good-paying career was out of reach, the Ready to Work program is a way forward, the chance at a more fulfilling life.
“Ready to Work is a great resource for people who are willing and motivated to put in time and effort toward pursuing a career path,” says Hooks. “Continuing education and training is not easy, and it can be even more difficult with the growing number of responsibilities we adopt in adulthood, but for those who just need a little help to get on track, Ready to Work truly is a gift.”
If you’re interested in applying to the Ready to Work program or in taking the Employer Pledge, visit www.ReadyToWorkSA.com, call 311, or apply in person at one of the many work partner agencies.