After high school graduation, it was extremely difficult for Cameron to find a career that suited his abilities and challenged him to grow as a professional. Like many high school graduates, he went straight to work in labor-intensive, physically demanding, dead-end jobs that were not propelling him toward the life he wanted for himself.
Cameron came across a website promoting NPower's Information Technology (IT) Fundamentals Program— a pre-apprenticeship in Baltimore, MD where students learn fundamental IT skills and frameworks to obtain IT certifications. He not only did well in the program, but after completing his pre-apprenticeship, NPower Maryland hired him as a Registered Apprentice in their IT Generalist occupation. He advanced to Assistant Technical Instructor, which enabled him to teach future program graduates and continue learning his craft. He found it surprising how much information he continued learning after getting his certification. In his words, "On-the-Job Training Works!" Cameron earned several industry certifications, including Google Project Management and CompTIA A+.
After completing his Registered Apprenticeship Program (RAP) and being awarded the Information Technology Specialist certification, Cameron was promoted to a NPower Lead Technical Instructor position and taught over 300 apprentices while also supervising his own.
Since his employment with NPower, Cameron has provided technical support and consulting services to multiple organizations through the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia, and is currently working on a federal contract serving the United States Patents and Trademarks Office (USPTO). In this capacity, he provides both technical support and education to end-users responsible for executing the functions of USPTO.
Cameron credits NPower's pre-apprenticeship and RA program with jump-starting his career and helping him develop the technical and soft skills needed to navigate various roles in IT. He highly recommends that underserved communities—especially People of Color—pursue RAPs that will develop technical skills and teach the importance of having a diversity of experiences in their chosen industry.
In addition to climbing the career ladder, Cameron attributes the completion of his program to now being able to support a family and live well. He is engaged, has a one-year-old child, and is expecting another baby in the spring.
Publish Date: 05/02/2023