Seattle Jobs Initiative and Trillium Consulting Provide IT Community Support through Internships

The Seattle Jobs Initiative provides training for workers entering the job market or embarking on a new career, and turned to Trillium Consulting for assistance in placing interns.

Seattle, Wash. – October 25, 2003. When Deion Nguyen began a training and internship program with the Seattle Jobs Initiative earlier this year, he didn’t think he would finish the program by working with some of the largest and most respected companies in the Pacific Northwest.

Deion was born in Vietnam, moved to Seattle 12 years ago, and began working as an oiler and maintenance assistant for a shipping company. Tired of low-paying jobs, Deion wanted to make a change in his career and found the Seattle Jobs Initiative. While attending South Seattle Community College through the Seattle Jobs Initiative program, he’s taken classes in Linux, Cisco, network administration, hardware maintenance and help desk support.

In early August, Seattle Jobs Initiative had a challenge -- they needed a place for Deion to gain valuable on-the-job experience as an intern. Susan Goodwin, from the Seattle Jobs Initiative, contacted Trillium after speaking with Belinda Green at Pemco Financial Services. Pemco’s intern positions were full so Ms. Green referred Ms. Goodwin to us, hoping we would be able to arrange a position for Deion with one of our other clients.

Trillium contacted Starbucks Coffee Company, and after an initial interview, Deion began a six-week internship providing PC hardware service and support for Starbucks IT department. “Through this internship, Deion has not only honed his technical skills, but he has a deeper understanding of the corporate environment, which will help him get a full-time job in the future,” said Scott Swanson, Consulting Services Program Manager at Trillium.

The Seattle Jobs Initiative began in 1995 when the Annie E. Casey Foundation provided funding and challenged six cities to develop innovative strategies that would help low-income parents and others move into jobs that pay livable wages. In addition to placing low income job seekers in living wage jobs, the Seattle Jobs Initiative also provides training and internships for workers entering the job market or embarking on new careers.

The Seattle Jobs Initiative is starting their next training session for new help desk interns soon and will have 24 interns available for placement in March, 2004. If you are interested in sponsoring an intern, please contact us at 425-957-4649, or email us at: trillium@trilliumconsulting.com.

As for Deion, he says, “I love my intern position! My goals include first getting a help desk job, then moving into Information Technology management.”

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