In the fall, we wrote about the Center for Employment Training’s (CET) 50th anniversary gala, a celebration of the organization’s 50-year commitment to providing work-based skills training to help students find fulfilling jobs. This month, we’re excited to announce Microsoft’s support of CET through a $2.5M technology grant.
This grant, which includes providing Microsoft technology like Office, Sharepoint, Skype, and more to CET, aims to transform the organization by keeping it up-to-date on digital platforms.
By partnering with CET, we’re excited to help produce world-class employees in the Bay Area. CET students are building their repertoire of modern technology and IT skills by training on Microsoft software.
CET’s core “technology” classes center on healthcare and business. However, Kate Manely, Industrial Relations Specialist and Yvette Avila, Training Manager tell us the benefit of this grant far surpasses any single job training program at CET. With a computer literacy component embedded in each of the job training programs, students in the trades are being trained on the latest software, helping them be ready to process work orders.
We’ve seen the direct impact that CET’s training program has had with its students, as they carry through skills on Word, Powerpoint, Excel, and more through their jobs. CET tells us that their students are building confidence with computer skills, which allows them to apply to jobs they otherwise wouldn’t consider due to skill comfort and experience.
“Microsoft has increased and improved our software for every single student,” Manely tells us, ”helping keep them as current as employers need. From data entry to customer service, technology affects every single one of our programs and helps every single one of our students.”
Former student Chris Harris has taken this opportunity one step further as Owner/ Operator of his own business, Outbound Transportation — and credits CET for the company’s success.
“I can still use what I learned in 2012 and add to my skills while I keep learning,” Harris says. “Without my training in business office technology programs at CET, I would not be as organized as I am.”
We’re honored and thrilled to join CET to help build the next class of dedicated and technologically-forward Bay Area workers.
