Microsoft, WorkSource offer career training vouchers -- Career Center Blog

May 28, 2009

Microsoft, WorkSource offer career training vouchers

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By Randy Woods
NWjobs

Anyone who's interviewed for a job at Microsoft knows that the company's interview questions are legendarily challenging. But in its quest to find the best people in the region's ever-shifting pool of talent, the Redmond giant is also giving back with an educational "stimulus package" to help train individuals for a career in information technology.

In partnership with WorkSource, Microsoft is offering the Elevate America program, which will provide vouchers that are redeemable for free e-training programs offered by the software company. Whether you're a student who's just graduating, an office worker looking for new computer training, an entrepreneur looking to start a new business or a seasoned IT professional looking for a way to enhance your job hunt, Elevate America has programs that can help you earn certified professional credentials and give you resume-building skill sets.

According to the Elevate America Web site, Microsoft has seen an 18 percent increase in technical certifications in the last six months as job seekers look for ways to stand out from the crowd. The program also offers discounted memberships to Microsoft's classroom training program, IT Academy.

Launched in February, Elevate America was created with a goal to provide 1 million free vouchers for Microsoft E-Learning and Microsoft Certification programs to help train more than 2 million workers nationwide in IT skills over the next three years. In Washington state, the program is making available about 30,000 vouchers for workers.

For King County residents, the WorkSource site's Job Seeker Services page says it is no longer taking applications for the vouchers via e-mail, but you can visit one of two Seattle offices (at North Seattle Community College and on Rainier Ave. S.), or three others in Auburn, Redmond or Renton. For information on how to redeem vouchers and other information throughout Washington, visit WorkSource's Elevate America page, which includes a county-by-county map.

For anyone out there who is interested in getting some extra career training to help land a job but has been held back because of the cost, this may be just the program for which you've been searching.

Randy Woods writes about job-search tools, networking techniques and other tips to help you land your dream job.