BDPA Offers 540 IT Job Openings and a Webinar to Solve Your Resume Dilemma

Thinking about your information technology career? There are 540 job openings currently available through the new BDPA Job Board – www.ITDiversityCareers.com. Upload your current resume and view career opportunities from all regions of the nation. Upward mobility is in your future. Share this information with any IT professionals that you know who are unemployed or under-employed. Sign up today or learn more.

Are you interested in how to gain experience, revamp your resume, and market yourself so you can land a job in IT? Join BDPA for our upcoming Real Talk webinar on building up your resume.

BDPA Atlanta is offering a webinar entitled ‘The Resume Dilemma: Not Enough Experience’ by Jacqueline K. Sanders on Thursday October 25, 2012 @ 7pm EDT. This webinar will focus on tips for building up your resume so that you can land a job in the IT field. Attend this webinar on 'cracking the code' to getting a job in IT. This webinar is about applying the ‘experience factor’, seeing results and making it work for you.

BDPA exists to advance the careers of African Americans and others in the IT industry from the classroom to the boardroom. Your action is simple – (a) upload your resume to our new BDPA Job Board and (b) register to attend the webinar later this week!

Feel free to reach out to BDPA by phone (301.584-3135) or email (careers@bdpa.org) if you have questions or wish to discuss further!

This Week in BDPA (Oct 21-27)

BDPA offers strong programs in 45 cities around the nation. Are you taking advantage of these programs? Here is a weekly preview of upcoming events gathered from the centralized BDPA calendar :

• Oct 23: BETF - Communications, 'BDPA iRadio Show'
  

Please let us know of other BDPA events that we may have missed!

You can always find BDPA programs, services or networking activity online at places such as:

• BDPA Facebook Group
• BDPA Foundation Facebook Page
• BDPA LinkedIn Network Group.

BDPA supports your efforts for career advancement in the IT industry. Our hope is that you find reasons to provide tax-deductible support to our Causes, our HSCC Scholarship Funds or Your Causes!

We encourage all BDPA leaders to take advantage of the centralized BDPA Groupsite Calendar to post your upcoming events!

BDPA Member Insights About ITDiversityCareers.com

A brand new BDPA Job Board - www.ITDiversityCareers.com - is now open and ready for business! We would love to hear what job seekers and recruiters have to say about this new job board.

One of the first to share her review of this new member service is Portia Westbrooks. Portia is a BDPA Chicago chapter member and a recruiting and diversity consultant. You can follow Portia on Twitter: @IT-Head_Hunter1. She wrote:

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Portia Westbrooks

National BDPA’s ITDiversityCareers is an excellent job resource connecting IT professionals with employers. Job seekers can search nationwide for technology careers in many sectors. BDPA is recognized as the premier organization for African American information technology professionals. Corporate Sponsors ranging from entrepreneurial start-ups to 'Fortune 100' corporations post job opportunities regularly and have access to a resume database of diverse technical talent. The number of job postings and resumes are continuing to grow.

The site is user friendly and registration is quick & easy. Even the most passive job seeker can have jobs meeting their search criteria created by My Job Search Agents, e-mailed to them or sent via RSS feed. The same person can post their resume “anonymously” and Recruiters can easily find them while sourcing resumes.

More active job seekers may want to utilize tools available to stay organized by tracking saved jobs and their job application history. The candidate dashboard is simple to navigate. There is even a function to add a photo to your profile if you wish!

Employers and IT professionals are successfully connecting using ITDiversityCareers. It is a benefit of BDPA membership that is shared with ALL technology professionals. Login or Create new Account today.

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Have you had a chance to visit the new BDPA Job Board yet? If so, would you like to share your insights or review with us?

Take Five: Dwana Franklin-Davis (BDPA St. Louis)

I met Dwana Franklin-Davis at the 2012 BDPA Technology Conference in Baltimore, Maryland. She is the president-elect for BDPA St. Louis and she is on fire about the prospects for her chapter. Dwana is a manager with MasterCard Worldwide. She agreed to share her thoughts as part of our 'Take Five' interview series:

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1. How did you get involved with BDPA? - I joined BDPA as a student member of the Chicago Chapter while pursuing my undergraduate degree at Purdue University in computer science. I was not able to participate in the programming events of the chapter since I was away at school, but was excited to see the benefits and opportunities that were available to minorities in information technology through the chapter. I joined the St. Louis Chapter in 2009, and was elected to the Executive Vice President position in 2012.
2. What is your favorite part of working with BDPA? - I have many favorite parts about working with BDPA. Being part of the executive team of the St. Louis Chapter has given me the opportunity to continue to grow and enhance my leadership skills outside of the work place. In addition, I have the opportunity to create programming opportunities to enhance the professional, technical and leaderships skills of the membership. Likewise, I have increased my professional network, not just in St. Louis, but also nationally through my active participation in the local Chapter and at the national conference.
3. What future evolution or change would you like to see in BDPA? - I would be interested in seeing more student presence at the college level. Whether it be student chapters or an easier connection for college students to local chapters, I think increased opportunity would benefit both BDPA and our future IT leaders.
4. Why should someone pay $100 membership dues to join BDPA? - BDPA offers a wealth of opportunities to the Black IT professional. Whether someone is interested in developing or enhancing their skills, networking with other IT professionals and executives, or contributing to STEM education through philanthropic endeavors, BDPA is the premiere organization for Blacks in IT.
5. Any advice for people considering a donation to the BDPA Education and Technology Foundation (BETF)? - The need to bridge the digital divide for Blacks “from the classroom to the boardroom” still exists. It’s United Way At-Work Campaign time, so remember to select BETF as your donation designation.

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The BDPA Education and Technology Foundation seeks to raise $5,000 in college scholarships for the HSCC team trained by BDPA St. Louis chapter. Please make a small donation in support of our cause!

Grant Disbursement: BDPA Detroit ($650)

BDPA Education and Technology Foundation approved a $650 grant request from BDPA Detroit chapter. Chapter president Beverly Moore and chapter VP-Finance Loraine Stewart-David submitted the formal request for funding with the following explanation:

"Once a year, the HSCC coordinators have a planning meeting to guide the direction of the High School Computer Competition (HSCC) program locally and nationally. This funding will allow our chapter to have input in the discussions on direction and changes for the HSCC program."

This grant disbursement will ensure that the chapter HSCC coordinator Tonji Zimmerman will be in Orlando next month for the annual meeting.

EdLab Group

The EdLab Group is a private, non-profit center with funding from federal and state governments, private foundations, corporations, and individuals. Our mission is to leverage the power of technology and diversity to transform teaching and learning.

For more information about the EdLab Group, visit their website: www.edlabgroup.org

Take Five: Sharrarne Morton (BDPA Washington DC)

Many have argued that BDPA is the 'best kept secret' in the IT industry and within the Black community. Few have taken steps to shine the light on BDPA programs and services as well as Sharrarne Morton. Sharrarne began her BDPA career as a media manager for our local BDPA chapter in Washington DC. She supported the creation of a television show, 'Popular Technology' featuring local and national BDPA executives. BDPA is looking for corporate sponsorship to produce over a dozen episodes of that television show in 2013. Sharrarne is a faculty member at Prince George's Community College as well as the owner of her own company, Morton Media.

Sharrarne demonstrated her masterful public relations and marketing skills as the 'mistress of ceremonies' for the 2012 National BDPA Technology Conference held earlier this year in Baltimore.

We asked Sharrarne to share her insights as part of our 'Take Five' Interview Series.

Here is what she had to say:

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1. How did you get involved with BDPA? - I was introduced to BDPA by Perry Carter. He was at an event that I was hosting to celebrate the kickoff of a new show that I was executive producing called, "It Takes A Village." He told me about the BDPA organization and asked if I would be interested in interviewing a few BDPA members for the show. I told him that I would. Shortly thereafter, I invited BDPA Past President Gina Billings and Tec-Masters CEO Marvin Carroll as guests on the show. I've been involved with BDPA ever since!
2. What do you see as the biggest benefit of your BDPA membership? - The biggest benefit of my BDPA membership is being exposed to some of the best and brightest African Americans in the country. I'm not a techie, so I was unfamiliar with the STEM world and the role that African Americans play within STEM. And, unfortunately, there are no news shows that highlight the incredible things that African Americans are doing in STEM. Thankfully, BDPA has exposed my family and I to a whole new world of Black scientists, chemists, engineers and mathematicians. Now, both of my children want to major in a STEM field when they go to college. I have also exposed my English and journalism students to the STEM world. It's been a win-win!
3. What future evolution or change would you like to see in BDPA? - I would like to see BDPA increase student membership and do more to increase awareness for students who may not be majoring in STEM, but whose field will eventually coincide with STEM, e.g., media and technology. Many students (and people in general) are intimidated by STEM. Perhaps BDPA can implement programs that will help lessen the "scare of math and science" for students, and in turn, increase student membership.
4. What would you like Corporate America to know about BDPA? - I would like Corporate America to know that BDPA is the best place from which to recruit and hire the best workforce in the world.
5. Any advice for people considering a donation to the BDPA Education and Technology Foundation (BETF)? - My advice would be that if you want the best return on your investment (ROI), as well as a sound investment in the future of our children and their success, a donation to the BDPA Education and Technology Foundation beats any stock or bond, hands down!

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Please contact us by email (corpsales@bdpa.org) if you want to learn more about being a sponsor for the Popular Technology television show! Also, feel free to reply to this post if you have anything you want to say to (or about) Sharrarne's interview.