Perhaps the most staggering aspect of the current coronavirus crisis has been its impact on unemployment rates. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, unemployment claims climbed to 6.6 million in the week ending in April 4, 2020, bringing the three-week pandemic total up to 16.8 million.
But many of the country's largest technology companies “are still hiring feverishly as they move to take advantage of a world shifting increasingly to digital,” according to the Financial Times. One Charlotte-based tech hub, BLKTECHCLT, is helping fledgling technologists hone their skills and prepare for this new reality through a series of virtual learning sessions.
It Takes Two to Teach Tech
BLKTECHCLT’s virtual tech event series comes on the heels of its announced partnership renewal with Flatiron School. Both companies have worked together since fall 2019, hosting a number of information sessions, coding workshops and career counseling across Charlotte.
“What I love about Flatiron is that when you go through the program from start to finish, it’s completely online, self-paced and at your leisure,” said Sherrell Dorsey, BLKTECHCLT co-founder and CEO. “Many of the folks in our membership community are working full time and raising families, so this really fits the schedule of a professional person who can’t afford to take the time off to attend a four-year school.”
By partnering with Flatiron School, BLKTECHCLT is also able to increase the likelihood of their members earning high-paying tech jobs. According to Flatiron School’s 2019 jobs report, 93% of program participants were placed into a tech position, earning an average $74,566 starting salary. Now in light of the coronavirus pandemic, the two organizations are working together to provide additional resources to help make learning tech skills even more accessible.
Virtual Learning in the Social Distancing Era
Since the fall of 2019, BLKTECHCLT and Flatiron School have been diligent about growing and sustaining a strong sense of community through their live tech events. Despite the new social distancing reality, the two organizations are doubling down on this commitment by bringing their tech events to the virtual realm.
“We’re looking forward to continuing to work together with Flatiron and support our Black and Brown tech community,” Dorsey said. “We thought to do a weekly virtual event in the evening for an hour and a half to continue providing for our community during this time.”
Throughout the month of April, BLKTECHCLT and Flatiron School will host a series of webinars each Tuesday from 6 p.m. – 7:30 p.m. The series kicked off on April 7 with a crash course in HTML coding, followed by a career counseling session by Latesha Byrd of Byrd Consulting on how to make your LinkedIn profile stand out from the crowd. Forty-five participants attended the first event, tuning in via the webinar registration or through BLKTECHCLT’s Instagram Live streaming video.
Supporting the Future of Work
Despite all the uncertainty the COVID-19 crisis has brought, Dorsey is confident that this experience can bring about a positive change.
“We want to be proactive about the future of work,” she said. “It’s definitely the right time to get started. We know that jobs are being eliminated right now and some may not come back, but being able to have additional tools at your disposal makes you indispensable, whether you’re an entrepreneur or a professional looking to enhance your tech skills for the first time.”
Participants can register for the full series of virtual tech events online. The next event is set to take place on April 14 from 6 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.
