Launched in 2018, Talent Path‘s mission is to equip its trainees with in-demand skills, then connect them with premier employers. Talent Path does this well, at a time where leading tech companies struggle to match qualified talent to open positions at their companies.
Here’s how it works: anyone can apply to Talent Path’s program, though having a college degree does increase one’s odds of being selected. The Houston-based firm then hires selected applicants, provides them full pay and benefits while putting them through a 12-week career development program. There, consultants are taught the most sought after skills in technology.
Based on each consultant’s strengths, they’re placed at one of Talent Path’s partner companies, many of whom are Fortune 100 organizations, for contracts that begin at 3-12 months. Each of Talent Path’s partners pay a fee to participate in the program, which costs less than hiring an intern. At the end of most consultant/partner contracts, full-time job offers are often extended.
Since launching only two years ago, Talent Path has had more than 100 participants. In addition to recent graduates, Talent Path’s consultants include military veterans, career changers, and tons of people from all walks of life. Talent Path also works closely with a variety of colleges and universities to provide “last mile training” to soon-to-be grads in order to help them round out their resumes and land a job post-graduation.
Talent Path is part of an expanding trend among employers and staffing firms to widen recruiting efforts for entry-level technology staff as they battle with a tight labor market. Last year, staffing firm Robert Half International Inc. reported that more than 80% of 2,800 U.S. employers claimed finding tech talent to be among their biggest challenges.
Here’s what’s new at Talent Path: at the beginning of March, VP of Innovation Jeff Frey led the company in moving Talent Path’s entire curriculum online.
As Talent Path’s business model focuses heavily on instilling its trainees with soft skills like creativity, adaptability, and problem solving—skills that are much easier to teach in face-to-face settings—many staff members were rightfully nervous about the pandemic-influenced shift.
Without giving too much away, we are happy to report that Talent Path’s digitization went so well, the company is planning to hold onto many aspects of online training, even as much of the country begins to reopen.
Additionally, Talent Path has experienced record levels of inbound queries from companies searching for tech talent. As you can imagine, companies of all shapes and sizes have been forced into a digital transformation that they never saw coming.
As millions across the U.S. have lost their jobs, the demand for software developers and IT project managers has never been higher.