One way that we live our mission of Tech for Change at Singlebrook is through company-sponsored volunteer time for employees to give back to the communities we serve. A recent T4C initiative was a free workshop called "Drupal for Job Seekers" that we offered to the local Ithaca community. 

The goal of the Drupal for Job Seekers workshop is to teach workers considering a career move into the tech industry about the possibilities created by learning a technology like Drupal. We held the workshop at Southside Community Center and got some help from Southside and Workforce New York in spreading the word to attendees, many of whom were unemployed or underemployed. 

Here's the pitch we used to recruit attendees:

With minimal computer skills and a little training, you can get a job building websites using Drupal. The Drupal platform is quickly growing in popularity. Local employers, including Cornell and Ithaca College, are hiring Drupal site content managers now! Join Singlebrook developer Lauren Kelly for a free training that explains what Drupal is, how to gain Drupal skills, and how these skills will help get or improve a job. Includes a demo and some hands-on work.

10 people attended the workshop, with our talented Drupal developer Lauren Kelly leading the class. True to Murphy's Law, moments before the workshop began, the community center's internet went down. Lauren was able to engage the group with a presentation and follow up discussion on the following Drupal topics:

• Where it fits in as a job role 
• How it will help get or improve a job
• How it fits in as a development tool
• Prerequisite skills needed
• How to gain Drupal skills

Unfortunately, the hands-on portion of the workshop (demo/show-and-tell, creating a node and a page) was not possible. We provided a handout for attendees to do some exploration and continued learning at home. The handout is available as a PDF here. 

Despite the technical difficulties, the group had positive feedback about the workshop. Our hope is that the job seekers in attendance were encouraged to take the next steps in learning Drupal and, ultimately, that they will use their new skills to land a great job. 

If you are interested in hosting or organizing a Drupal for Job Seekers workshop with us, please get in touch!